U.S. Says Pakistan Altered Missiles Sold for Defense

[Heidi]

Source: New York Times

Published: August 29, 2009

WASHINGTON — The United States has accused Pakistan of illegally modifying American-made missiles to expand its capability to strike land targets, a potential threat to India, according to senior administration and Congressional officials.

The charge, which set off a new outbreak of tensions between the United States and Pakistan, was made in an unpublicized diplomatic protest in late June to Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani and other top Pakistani officials.

The accusation comes at a particularly delicate time, when the administration is asking Congress to approve $7.5 billion in aid to Pakistan over the next five years, and when Washington is pressing a reluctant Pakistani military to focus its attentions on fighting the Taliban, rather than expanding its nuclear and conventional forces aimed at India.

While American officials say that the weapon in the latest dispute is a conventional one — based on the Harpoon antiship missiles that were sold to Pakistan by the Reagan administration as a defensive weapon in the cold war — the subtext of the argument is growing concern about the speed with which Pakistan is developing new generations of both conventional and nuclear weapons.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/30/world/asia/30missile.html?hpw

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Reuters article:
White House claims Pakistan modified U.S.-made missiles: report

[Wilms]

1. Gosh. Pakistan has been such a reliable friend I find this all hard to believe.

Perhaps it's a misunderstanding.

[varun]

2. India has been the the target of American made weapons sold to Pakistan

for a long time.

Now add the missiles to this list.

[hmorehead]

3. I am shocked,

shocked that that there is gambiling going on here at Rick's, whoops. Wrong movie. I am shocked. shocked to hear that one of our "allies" is modifying weapons systems. I mean Isreal has NEVER done sort of thing. Wanna buy a bridge?

[Vidar]

4. This is a surpirse?

[cosmicone]

5. Pakistan is a cancer on the world

After being created by the brits for nefarious reasons, it has now become a failed state with a military and ISI run amok. When balkanized into tiny little countries of Balochistan, Sindh, Pakhtoonistan and Khalistan, it will cease to be a problem.