Washington:
Celebrated former CIA officer James Lawler, widely credited for bringing down A Q Khan’s nuclear smuggling network, recounted the early experiences that shaped his intelligence career, describing how he earned the nickname “Mad Dog” and why he came to call Khan the “Merchant of Death”.
The former head of the CIA’s Counter-Proliferation Division, in an interview with ANI, detailed his role in exposing and sabotaging global nuclear trafficking networks linked to the Pakistani scientist.
James Lawler outlined how these covert efforts eventually drew in AQ Khan’s proliferation network. The United States had monitored Khan’s role in building Pakistan’s nuclear capability for years before analysts realised the scale of his outward trafficking.
“We were very slow. We thought it was serious that he was supplying Pakistan, but we did not imagine he was going to turn around and become an outward proliferator,” he noted. “I nicknamed AQ Khan the ‘Merchant of Death.'”
He recounted how the CIA had confirmed that Khan’s operation was supplying multiple foreign programmes. Addressing questions about Pakistani involvement, Lawler stated, “AQ Khan had certain Pakistani generals and leaders on his payroll,” while emphasising
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