# Pervez Musharraf

> **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou.
>
> Cite as: "Pervez Musharraf," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/pervez-musharraf/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*Pakistani general and military dictator who ruled during John Kiriakou's 2002 posting as CIA chief of counterterrorism operations in Pakistan. Per Kiriakou, the United States 'essentially just purchased Musharraf,' paying tens of millions in cash to the ISI and meeting him several times a week, and in return 'he would let us do whatever we wanted.' Kiriakou says Musharraf, fearing the nuclear arsenal could fall into terrorist hands, unofficially turned control of Pakistan's nuclear weapons over to the Pentagon. Musharraf later pardoned proliferator A.Q. Khan.*

- **Role:** Pakistani general and military dictator
- **Per Kiriakou:** U.S. 'essentially just purchased' him with cash to the [ISI](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/isi)
- **Nuclear arsenal:** Unofficially turned control over to the Pentagon
- **A.Q. Khan:** Pardoned him, ending investigations

**General Pervez Musharraf** was the Pakistani military dictator in power during [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou)'s 2002 tour as [CIA](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia) chief of counterterrorism operations in Pakistan.

## *"We essentially just purchased Musharraf"*

Per [Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou): *"The United States loves working with dictators, because then you don't have to worry about public opinion, and you don't have to worry about the media."* The U.S. gave Pakistan *"millions and millions and millions of dollars"* in military and economic aid, paid tens of millions in cash directly to the [ISI](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/isi), and met with Musharraf several times a week. In return, *"essentially he would let us do whatever we wanted to do."*[1][2][3]

Kiriakou notes the limit of that leverage: Musharraf had to keep his own military happy, and the military *"didn't care about Al-Qaeda. They cared about India."*[3]

## The nuclear arsenal

Kiriakou says that while stationed in Pakistan in 2002 he was told unofficially that the Pentagon controlled the Pakistani nuclear arsenal, that Musharraf had turned control over to the United States because he feared the weapons could fall into terrorist hands.[4]

## A.Q. Khan

Musharraf later pardoned nuclear proliferator [A.Q. Khan](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/aq-khan), ending all investigations into Khan's black-market network.[5]

## See also

- [ISI](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/isi)
- [A.Q. Khan](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/aq-khan)
- [CIA](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia)
- [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou)

## Sources

1. Pakistan's Nuclear Secrets, CIA Lies, ISI's Double Game: Ex-CIA John Kiriakou (2025-10-24), at 1:00. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIyrvsi1nTw&t=60s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-10-24-pakistan-nuclear-secrets-cia-lies/
2. Pakistan's Nuclear Secrets, CIA Lies, ISI's Double Game: Ex-CIA John Kiriakou (2025-10-24), at 14:30. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIyrvsi1nTw&t=870s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-10-24-pakistan-nuclear-secrets-cia-lies/
3. Pakistan's Nuclear Secrets, CIA Lies, ISI's Double Game: Ex-CIA John Kiriakou (2025-10-24), at 15:00. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIyrvsi1nTw&t=900s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-10-24-pakistan-nuclear-secrets-cia-lies/
4. Pakistan's Nuclear Secrets, CIA Lies, ISI's Double Game: Ex-CIA John Kiriakou (2025-10-24), at 2:30. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIyrvsi1nTw&t=150s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-10-24-pakistan-nuclear-secrets-cia-lies/
5. Pakistan's Nuclear Secrets, CIA Lies, ISI's Double Game: Ex-CIA John Kiriakou (2025-10-24), at 31:00. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIyrvsi1nTw&t=1860s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-10-24-pakistan-nuclear-secrets-cia-lies/

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From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/pervez-musharraf/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt