In a striking revelation, former CIA officer John Kiriakou has claimed that the United States &ldquo;purchased&rdquo; Pakistan&rsquo;s former president Pervez Musharraf, granting Washington sweeping influence over Islamabad&rsquo;s military and even its nuclear arsenal.
Kiriakou, who spent 15 years with the CIA, said the US maintained a &ldquo;very good&rdquo; relationship with Musharraf&rsquo;s regime, describing him as a leader Washington found convenient to work with. &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s be honest here. The United States loves working with dictators. Because then you don&rsquo;t have to worry about public opinion or the media. And so we essentially just purchased Musharraf,&rdquo; he said. According to him, millions of dollars in military and economic aid were funneled into Pakistan, allowing the US to operate with near-total freedom. &ldquo;We would meet Musharraf regularly, several times a week. And essentially, he would let us do whatever we wanted,&rdquo; Kiriakou added.
The former CIA operative also claimed that Musharraf handed control of Pakistan&rsquo;s nuclear arsenal to the Pentagon, fearing extremist infiltration. &ldquo;When I was stationed in Pakistan in 2002, I was told unofficially that the Pentagon controlled the Pakistani nuclear arsenal, that Musharraf had turned control over to the United States because he was afraid of exactly what you just described nuclear weapons falling into terrorist hands,&rdquo; he stated.
Kiriakou further alleged that Musharraf played a double game, outwardly supporting the US-led war on terror while allowing militant networks to continue operations against India. &ldquo;He had to keep the military happy. And the military didn&rsquo;t care about al Qaeda, they cared about India,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;So he had to allow them to live a dual life, pretending to cooperate with Americans while committing terror against India.&rdquo;
Reflecting on the political elite of that era, Kiriakou recalled visiting Benazir Bhutto during her exile in Dubai. He described her life as far removed from the struggles of ordinary Pakistanis. &ldquo;She lived in a $5 million palace on the Gulf,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We heard a car pull up and she said, &lsquo;If he came home with another Bentley, I&rsquo;m going to kill him!&rsquo; She lived in luxury while her people didn&rsquo;t have shoes or enough food to eat.&rdquo;
Kiriakou&rsquo;s account paints a damning picture of Pakistan&rsquo;s leadership during the early 2000s, portraying a system mired in corruption, dependence, and duplicity, one that, he claims, compromised national sovereignty for financial and political convenience.

Musharraf Let Pentagon Control Nukes: Ex-CIA

John Kiriakou alleges Musharraf let Washington control Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal

Musharraf Let Pentagon Control Nukes: Ex-CIA

John Kiriakou alleges Musharraf let Washington control Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal

October 25, 2025 | 10:24 IST