Al Ahram, p.7, (23/12/2006)

Is there an Islamic bomb

Excerpts

By: Makram Mohammad Ahmad

Can we consider the Pakistani nuclear bomb a nuclear bomb that increased the power of the Islamic world and enabled it to confront challenges facing it and that it was a real support for it? Or is the Pakistani bomb just related to the conflict between Pakistan and India that started since their division in 1947? And do we consider the predicted Iranian nuclear bomb a support for the Islamic world or just a backup for the Persian race that seeks to be a regional power?

It is sure that the announcement of India and Pakistan in 1998 that they possessed nuclear bombs, after conducting a series of nuclear tests during the same month, was a declaration that the two countries reached their strategic objective of the nuclear arms race started by the two countries immediately after their separation in 1947, which resulted in a lot of hatred leading to three wars between the two sides. The bitter heritage of hatred between the two countries was behind the nuclear arms race and the reason was not supporting Islam or fighting it.

It is also well established that the US helped the two countries to possess nuclear weapons through its limited response to the Indian nuclear test or through lessening its pressure on Pakistan so as not to get nuclear weapons.

In spite of the sanctions imposed by the US on India and Pakistan after the 1998 nuclear explosions, it has been obliged in the end to accept the fait accompli accepting that India and Pakistan are nuclear countries but they are not part of the nuclear club that comprises the five permanent members of the Security Council.

The aim of India and Pakistan of possessing nuclear weapons is just to deter each other without having any third party involved. This led the two countries to reject to sign the NPT in 1970.

It might be difficult to separate the indo-Pakistani conflict from all conditions prevailing in south Asia. China's possession of the nuclear bomb urged India to expedite its nuclear program. India's possession of the bomb was the direct cause of huge support given by Bhutto to the Pakistani nuclear program.

The balance of terror between the two countries led them to realize the necessity of conducting a dialogue, and lessened the chances of the eruption of a war whose victims would not be less than one million persons. It also changed some of the hard-line stances of the two sides making it possible to reach a compromise regarding their disputes especially that is related to the Kashmiri issue.

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