Ex-CIA Officer Claims Pakistan Would ‘Lose Badly’ in Any War With India
Former CIA officer John Kiriakou has warned that Pakistan would face a decisive defeat if it ever engaged India in a conventional war. Speaking to ANI, Kiriakou, who served 15 years with the intelligence agency and led counterterror operations in Pakistan, said that “nothing good” could result from a military confrontation between the two neighbours.
Kiriakou noted that Pakistan “will lose” in a conventional conflict, stressing there is no benefit in provoking India. The former CIA officer also disclosed that during his posting in Pakistan in 2002, he was told unofficially that the Pentagon maintained control over Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal, something he said India was likely unaware of.
“I doubt the Americans ever informed India that Washington had oversight of Pakistan’s nukes, especially since Islamabad loudly insists it controls them independently,” he said.
Discussing India’s response to Pakistan-sponsored terrorism, Kiriakou stated that New Delhi has made it clear it will not tolerate nuclear blackmail and would respond firmly to any terror strikes. He highlighted India’s strong retaliatory actions, including the 2016 surgical strikes, the 2019 Balakot airstrikes and Operation Sindoor, which hit terror infrastructure across the border.
Kiriakou further revealed U.S. intelligence had the capability to neutralize Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, considered the father of Pakistan’s nuclear program, but refrained due to Saudi influence.
Having spent half his CIA career in analysis and the rest in counterterrorism, Kiriakou gained public attention in 2007 as a whistleblower when he exposed the agency’s torture program.
