PAKISTAN NUKES VS. INDIAN NUKES the dramatic changes taking place in the Arab world and their strategic implications.

.PAKISTAN VS. INDIAN NUKES Pakistan has more Nuclear bombs than France, India and UK

Today 12:49 PM Video: Young Egyptian Protesters

Video footage of young protesters discussing the revolution--in English--recently surfaced online. Take a look:

Today 12:46 PM Egypt Ambassador: Reform Is Near

Egypt's Ambassador to the U.S. Sameh Shoukry visited CNN's "Parker Spitzer" tonight, on which he asserted reform in the region is near.

Watch his appearance here.

Today 8:09 AM Video Of Parliament

Al Jazeera producer Evan Hill has posted this video of the ongoing protest at the Egyptian Parliament building.

He tweets:

@ evanchill : A convoy of a hundred people just marched by in total silence, trying to secretly bring blankets to parliament protest

Today 7:56 AM A New Protest Leader?

Blake Hounshell of Foreign Policy has a piece on Google executive and activist Wael Ghonim. He writes:

Ironically, by kidnapping, detaining, and then releasing Ghonim -- instantly turning him into a nationwide celebrity -- the regime may have just created an undisputed leader for a movement that in recent days has struggled to find its footing, seemingly outfoxed by a government skilled in the dark arts of quashing and marginalizing dissent. Within minutes of his interview, his personal Facebook page had surged in popularity, and the tweets were coming so fast that #Ghonim briefly became a trending topic on Twitter.

Ghonim's reappearance comes at a critical time for the protesters. Now that the galvanizing moment has passed, it's not clear where their movement goes from here. It's one thing to build a coalition against police brutality, something Egyptians of all classes have suffered from for decades; it's quite another to rally people around more complex demands, such as constitutional reform or media oversight. And after a week of nonstop propaganda on state television against the protesters -- painted simultaneously as dangerous Islamists and Israeli agents -- it's not even clear that an overwhelming majority of Egyptians want Mubarak out immediately, as the folks in Tahrir insist.

For the protest movement, decentralization is at once the source of its power and its potential Achilles' heel.

You can read the entire piece here.

Today 7:16 AM Parliament Protests

Protesters are still in front of the Parliament. Manal Hassan tweets:

@ manal : Tonight we are having a sitin in front of the parliament, hope we can free it soon.. it's rather cold #jan25

Today 6:47 AM Egypt VP: Protests Can't Continue For A Long Time

Reports the AP:

Vice President Omar Suleiman warned Tuesday that "we can't put up with" continued protests in Tahrir for a long time, saying the crisis must be ended as soon as possible in a sharply worded sign of increasing regime impatience with 16 days of mass demonstrations.

Suleiman said there will be "no ending of the regime" and no immediate departure forPresident Hosni Mubarak, according to the state news agency MENA, reporting on a meeting between the vice president and the heads of state and independent newspapers.

He told them the regime wants dialogue to resolve protesters' demands for democratic reform, adding in a veiled warning, "We don't want to deal with Egyptian society with police tools."

Today 6:07 AM Footage Of The Protests

More footage of today's huge protests is appearing online, showing protesters singing and chanting in the streets.

Today 5:51 AM Wael Ghonim With Khaled Said's Mother

In this picture, activist Wael Ghonim stands with the mother of Khaled Said, a 28-year-old who's death after being beaten by police set off months of protests last year. Ghonim revealed today that he set up the Facebook page 'We Are All Khaled Said,' which helped to organize the protests.

Today 5:41 AM Parliament Protests Continue

There are reports that the protests continue near the Parliament building. Mohamed Abdelfattah tweets:

@ mfatta7 : We've now fully occupied the parliament street and barricades have been setup. Searching for a blanket though #jan25

Today 5:18 AM Wael Ghonim Inspires Crowd

This footage has been released of Wael Ghonim, the man being credited with re-energizing the protests:

Today 4:02 AM Biggest Marches Yet

There are reports that the demonstrations today are the largest to take to the streets since the protest began two weeks ago. Reports the New York Times:

With a new wave of demonstrations in Tahrir Square on Tuesday — by some measures the largest anti-government protests in the two-week uprising — Egyptians loudly rejected their government’s approach to political change and renewed their demands for the immediate resignation of President Hosni Mubarak.

Today 3:54 AM Prominent Blogger Arrested

According to the Guardian, prominent Egyptian blogger Karim Amer has been detained by the Egyptian authorities:

More activists have been arrested, it was reported, including an independent film-maker, Samir Eshra, and Abdel-Karim Nabil Suleiman, who blogs under the name Karim Amer. Amer was the first blogger to be prosecuted in the country when he was jailed for four years in 2007 for insulting Islam and the president. He was released last November.

Today 3:15 AM Worker Protests

Worker protests are breaking out across Egypt, although they are reportedly not connected the the anti-Mubarak protests at Tahrir Square. Reuters reports:

Egyptian workers emboldened and inspired by more than two weeks of anti-government protests staged strikes and smaller demonstrations on Tuesday demanding higher wages and better treatment from their employers.

About a km (half mile) north of Tahrir Square, where hundreds of thousands gathered on Tuesday to demand an end to President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule, around 300 Telecom Egypt Protesters said the demonstration was not connected to Tahrir and was aimed at improving the lot of the mostly state-owned landline operator's employees. But some of their chants, such as "we will not go", are often heard in the square.

Today 2:38 AM Watch Wael Ghonim's Emotional Interview

Wael Ghonim, the Google executive and democracy activist who was held by Egyptian authorities for 12 days, is being credited with re-energizing the Egyptian protests today. Last night, he gave an emotional interview, which you can watch below in three parts.

If you can't see the subtitles, click on the "CC" in the lower right corner.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Today 2:02 AM More Than Half Of U.S. Doesn't Know About Egypt

According to a new poll by the Pew Research Center, 52 percent of American report hearing "little or nothing" about the protests in Egypt:

The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, conducted Feb. 2-7, 2011 among 1,385 adults, finds that nearly half (48%) say they have heard a lot about the anti-government protests in Egypt; about the same proportion (52%) reports hearing little or nothing.

The survey finds that majorities of Democrats (69%) and independents (57%) say the Obama administration is handling the situation in Egypt about right; fewer Republicans (43%) give the administration positive ratings. Roughly equal numbers of Republicans say the administration is showing too much support (19%) and too little support (15%) for the protesters.

Pakistan has more Nukes, Fissionable Material and Missiles than India

Pakistan tested Nuclear bombs in response to the Clinton inspired explosions conducted by Delhi.  Pakistan has embarked on a program of minimum deterrence. This involves thwarting the Bharati Cold Start Strategy in its tracks, and keeping the Bharati forces at bay. The deterrence has worked not once, but on three occasions, in 1998, 2002 and in 2008. Bharati forces arrayed on the Pakistani border could not cross the border and had to withdraw in ignominy with their tails between their legs. These three retreats are not part of the Bharati narrative and most Bharatis have selective amnesia about them.

Reuters quoting an August 2010 report “The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists” describes the fact that Pakistan has moreNuclear Bombs and missiles than India.  Most analysts believe that Pakistan has more than 300 Nuclear bombs.

The National Intelligence Estimate for Afghanistan and Pakistan in December 2008 said ”Pakistan was producing nuclear weapons at a faster rate than any other country in the world.”

The Reuters story states that “The Indians who conducted a nuclear test as early as 1974, thus,may be behind not just the Chinese, but also Pakistan in terms of the number of warheads, fissile material and delivery systems.”

Pakistan’s Nuclear Program is growing exponentially because of the numerical superiority of Bharati forces, the US pacts with  Delhi and other such factors. Pakistan has circumvented the Bharati dreams of superiority by mining its own indigenous Uranium, signing Civilian Nuclear deals with China and developing the most potent missile systems on the planet. All these factor provide it with deterrence that is unbeatable.

Reuters also reports that “The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists in a report in August 2010 estimated that India had assembled 60 to 80 warheads and produced enough fissile material for 60-105 nuclear warheads. Pakistan is estimated to have assembled 70–90 warheads and produced missile material for as many as 90 warheads. China’s arsenal was estimated at 240 nuclear warheads.”

Reuters reports that “India and Pakistan exchanged a list of each other’s nuclear installations on Saturday like they have done at the start of each year under a 1988 pact in which the two sides agreed not to attack these facilities. That is the main confidence building measure in the area of nuclear security between the two countries, even though their nuclear weapons programmes have expanded significantly since then. Indeed for some years now there is a growing body of international opinion that holds that Pakistan has stepped up production of fissile material, and may just possibly hold more nuclear weapons than its much larger rival, India.

Back as December 2008, Peter Lavoie, the U.S. national intelligence officer for South Asia, told NATO officials that “despite pending economic catastrophe, Pakistan is producing nuclear weapons at a faster rate than any other country in the world,” according to a classified State Department cable released late last year by WikiLeaks. Pakistan has not commented on the stories.

“Pakistan lives in a tough neighborhood and will never be oblivious to its security needs,” said Butt, defense attache at the Pakistani Embassy. “As a nuclear power, we are very confident of our deterrent capabilities.” Pakistani Brig. Gen. Nazir Butt. India is believed to hold between 60 and 100 nuclear weapons, according to the Post (Karen DeYoung, Washington Post, Jan. 31).

• Pakistan on a par with long-established nuclear powers.
• Islamabad now has more Nuclear bombs than India and the UK.
• Rawalpindi’s Nuclear bombs are now being miniaturized and have become more lethal.
• Pakistan is using its own indigenous Uranium.
• The Washington Post reported that Pakistan has doubled its nuclear and arms stockpile to 110 warheads.
• Our own sources inform us that Pakistan has between 250-300 Nuclear bombs.

Pakistan swore in 1971 “Never Again”. The Nuclear program was established by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and work was completed on ti during the reign of General Zia Ul Haq. Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto continued  the program and worked on missiles. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif openly declared Pakistan as a Nuclear state, and President Musharraf operationalized the bombs on the missiles.

• Pakistan country is on its way to overtake Britain as well as France, as the fifth largest nuclear weapon power.
• The US, Russia and China are currently the three largest nuclear weapons states.

The Nuclear program has been expedited as a result of the Indo-US Nuclear deal and Rawalpindi is building the capability to surge ahead in the production of nuclear-weapons material, putting it on a path to overtake Britain as the world’s fifth largest nuclear weapons power,” The New York Times reported. Pakistan has openly declared that the reason for cranking up production of nuclear weapons is the discriminatory Indo-US nuclear deal, which  frees up Bharat’s domestic fissile material for Nuclear bombs because it allows Bharat to purchase nuclear fuel for civilian purposes.

These developments have led Islamabad to gain a strategic edge over its nuclear-armed rival and South Asia neighbor India, the Washington Post reported.

The New York Times reports that “Pakistan’s determination to add considerably to its arsenal — mostly to deter India– has also become yet another irritant in its often testy relationship with Washington, particularly as Pakistan seeks to block Obama’s renewed efforts to negotiate a global treaty that would ban the production of new nuclear material,” it said.

Pakistan has blocked progress on the so-called Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty in Geneva. Pakistan is working on completing a large new plutonium production reactor, which will rapidly increase its ability to produce a powerful new generation of smaller miniaturized weapons.