‘Knew F-16s could deliver nukes’: Ex-CIA officer makes major claim on Pakistan; recalls warning of ‘enemy within’

Former CIA officer Richard Barlow revealed that US Presidents certified Pakistan as a non-nuclear state until 1989, despite intelligence showing modified F-16s could deliver nuclear weapons. Washington prioritized Pakistan’s Afghan war cooperation over non-proliferation, even tipping off Islamabad about an operation to arrest a nuclear smuggler.