If supplying nukes to North Korea, Iran, Libya, and potentially to Saudis makes a nation America's great friend, then perhaps all nations would want to have such behavior on their resume when filling out the application form for becoming a US friend.
Nicholas Kristof in the NY Times, today
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/25/opinion/25kristoff.html
If a nuclear weapon destroys the U.S. Capitol in coming years, it will probably be based in part on Pakistani technology. The biggest challenge to civilization in recent years came not from Osama or Saddam Hussein but from Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of Pakistan's atomic bomb. Dr. Khan definitely sold nuclear technology to Iran, North Korea and Libya, and, officials believe, to several more nations as well.
But, amazingly, eight months after Dr. Khan publicly confessed, we still don't know who the rest of his customers were.
Here's the LA Times editors' take on this farce:
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-ed-pakistan16sep16,1,870547.story
Claims by Musharraf, who seized power in a 1999 coup and is also Pakistan's top general, that the military and government knew nothing about Khan's activities beggar belief. Yet Musharraf, whose spokesman announced Wednesday the general was reneging on his promise to step down as head of the army, apparently did convince Washington. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell visited Islamabad in March and announced that the U.S. was designating Pakistan "a major non-NATO ally." Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said there was no reason to believe Musharraf was involved in Khan's network.
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And no, Musharraf won't allow Omar Sheikh, implicated in Daniel Pearl's murder, and implicated in wiring money to 9/11 hijacker Mohammed Atta to be extradited to the US either.
This line that when Musharraf falls, nukes will end up in fundamentalist hands is faulty. Nukes are already in fundamentalist hands. Several of the top Pakistani nuclear scientists attend jehad conferences, some had met Bin Laden before 9/11, and AQ Khan had singled out America's worst enemies to send nukes to.
I consider this Bush's top national security failure. It seems that in return for presumed promises of Musharraf to catch some "high value targets", the full extent of the nuclear proliferation network has been left uninvestigated. Kristof's conclusion that if a nuclear 9/11 happens, it would likely be traced back to Pakistan, is no surprise.