Unveiling a shocking revelation, former CIA counterproliferation officer Richard Barlow has made a groundbreaking claim that US Presidents, until 1989, certified Pakistan as non-nuclear despite intelligence indicating the F-16s supplied by the US could deliver nuclear weapons. Barlow, who monitored Pakistan's clandestine nuclear program in the 1980s, asserts that US officials were fully aware of Islamabad's nuclear capabilities. He stated, 'We knew the F-16s could deliver Pakistani nuclear weapons without a doubt. It's an engineering fact, verified by engineers and physicists, not me. The government proceeded with the sale despite this knowledge.'
Barlow further revealed that the Reagan and Bush administrations continued to certify Pakistan's non-nuclear status until 1989, even as CIA assessments contradicted these claims. He said, 'The President certified Pakistan's non-nuclear status until 1989, which most CIA officials found uncomfortable. We provided accurate intelligence, but the elected officials made the final decision.'
The US intelligence community, according to Barlow, had long concluded that Pakistan's F-16s could deliver nuclear weapons, a finding later supported by journalist Seymour Hersh in 1993. He mentioned, 'Read Seymour Hersh's 1993 article in The New Yorker. The intelligence community observed nuclear weapons being moved to air bases and loaded onto F-16s.'
The 1987 'Brass Tacks' crisis, when Pakistani scientist Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan hinted at a nuclear deterrent, triggered these revelations. Barlow noted that US technical experts had already confirmed Pakistan's nuclear capability. He said, 'US experts had studied Pakistani nuclear weapons design and F-16s for years. We knew all about it.'
Regarding Pakistan's nuclear program, Barlow mentioned that then-Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto had limited control, with General Mirza Aslam Beg and President Ghulam Ishaq Khan managing it. The US only confronted Pakistan after the Soviet withdrawal in 1989, he added.
The US prioritized Pakistan's cooperation during the Afghan war, overshadowing nuclear proliferation concerns. By 1990, India-Pakistan tensions over the nuclear issue escalated. The crisis was defused after Defense Secretary Robert Gates' visit to New Delhi and Islamabad by President George HW Bush. Barlow described the 1990 standoff as more dangerous due to poor command structures and communication.
Barlow also discussed the Pressler Amendment, a 1985 law requiring annual certification from the President that Pakistan did not possess nuclear devices to receive military aid. After the 1990 crisis, Barlow's superiors refused to certify further. He mentioned, 'Some US officials wanted to certify under the Pressler Amendment, knowing it was over.'
Additionally, Barlow revealed that senior US State Department officials secretly informed Pakistan about an undercover American operation in the 1980s to arrest a retired Pakistani general involved in nuclear smuggling. The CIA-Customs sting targeted Arshad Parvez, who attempted to purchase 25 metric tons of Maraging 350 steel for uranium enrichment. Barlow was furious, describing it as an 'enemy within' compromise that weakened US efforts to curb Pakistan's nuclear build-up.
