(2004-03-16) Hersh Pakistan Nuclear Osama

Seymour Hersh on our deal to ignore Pakistan Nuclear Weapon sales. Musharraf, who seized power in a coup d'etat in 1999, has been a major ally of the George W Bush Administration in the war on terrorism (Dealing With Terrorism). According to past and present military and intelligence officials, however, Washington's support for the pardon of Khan was predicated on what Musharraf has agreed to do next: look the other way as the U.S. hunts for Osama Bin Laden in a tribal area of northwest Pakistan dominated by the forbidding Hindu Kush mountain range, where he is believed to be operating. American commanders have been eager for permission to conduct major sweeps in the Hindu Kush for some time, and Musharraf has repeatedly refused them. Now, with Musharraf's agreement, the Administration has authorized a major spring offensive that will involve the movement of thousands of American troops.