Musharraf's Fury Exposed: CIA Whistleblower Reveals Shocking Details of Pakistan's Nuclear Secrets Leak

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{ "title": "Musharraf's Fury Exposed: CIA Whistleblower Reveals Shocking Details of Pakistan's Nuclear Secrets Leak", "article": "A former CIA operations chief has revealed explosive details about Pakistan's then-president Pervez Musharraf's reaction to evidence that physicist Abdul Qadeer Khan was selling the country's nuclear secrets abroad. According to James Lawler, CIA director George Tenet personally briefed Musharraf with conclusive evidence that Khan had leaked sensitive nuclear technology to countries like Libya. Lawler, who played a key role in dismantling AQ Khan's global nuclear trafficking network, said that Tenet told Musharraf that Khan was betraying Pakistan's nuclear secrets, prompting an explosive response from the Pakistani leader. Musharraf reportedly vowed to kill Khan, but ultimately placed him under house arrest for years. Lawler, who once headed the CIA's Counter-Proliferation Division, dubbed AQ Khan the 'Merchant of Death' due to his role in building Pakistan's nuclear capability and secretly selling nuclear technology to other countries. The CIA later confirmed that Khan's operation had evolved into a sprawling trafficking enterprise supplying multiple foreign nuclear programs. Lawler revealed that certain Pakistani generals and leaders were on AQ Khan's payroll, but emphasized that individual complicity did not equal state policy. He also shared details about the CIA's covert sabotage effort, which involved creating front companies to penetrate nuclear smuggling networks and using sting operations to ship compromised equipment to illicit nuclear facilities. A major turning point came after 9/11, when the CIA intercepted a freighter carrying nuclear components destined for Libya. The seizure led to Libya's dismantling of its nuclear program, a moment Lawler described as a "nuclear pandemic" prevention. He also linked AQ Khan's network to Iran's nuclear program and warned that if Iran acquires a nuclear weapon, it could trigger a "nuclear pandemic" across the Middle East. Addressing questions about the US' tolerance of Pakistan's nuclear program, Lawler said that Washington may have turned a blind eye due to Pakistan's importance in Afghanistan during the Cold War and beyond. He also described how US intelligence carefully monitored Pakistan's nuclear assets after 9/11 to ensure AQ Khan was not supplying nuclear material to al-Qaeda. "