Yes, it appears there’s NOTHING our Spook Shack wouldn’t do, including getting overly entangled with the nuclear proliferation smuggling network of Pakistan’s A.Q. Khan, in the name of shutting it down..
The New York Times reports that, over a four-year period, the CIA paid as much as $10 million to Swiss engineers, Friedrich Tinner and his two sons, who have acted as middlemen in many of Khan’s dealings. The payments were for the Tinners to pass on info about Khan’s network, and to sabotage enough work to blunt his effectiveness.
Unfortunately, because the Swiss government recently destroyed a boatload of related documents, with the strong support and sighs of relief of the Bush Adminstration, we may never get near the bottom of this baby.
Now, supposedly, the money got the Tinners to turn double agent and expose much of Khan’s dealings.
But, in the world of nuclear secrets smuggling, just how sure of its results is the CIA? Because the Tinners certainly didn’t have principles, and DID help Khan. That we know.
In addition, European governments are upset that the investigative trail has been nearly obliterated by the document destruction. In Switzerland, it blocks any chance of the father and two sons being tried for any of their actions.
Beyond that, judging by the crudeness of some of the Tinners’ sabotage of some of the work they were smuggling, I’m sure Iran, et al, had started suspecting them a few years ago.
Final thought — why didn’t the CIA reel in the Tinners, and Khan, earlier?
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