Snowden Leaked Data: US Distrusts Ally Pakistan; US Surveillance Sees Pakistan Like Al-Qaeda, Iran

Despite the fact that Pakistan is technically a U.S. ally, a summary of the $52.6 billion "black budget" leaked by Edward Snowden reveals that Pakistan -- a nation with a plethora of radical Islamists --  is as much a target of US surveillance as al-Qaeda, Iran, and North Korea, the Newser website reports today (September 3, 2013).

In fact, the Washington Post -- which is taking an extensive look at these leaked documents -- states: "No other nation draws as much scrutiny across so many categories of national security concern; intelligence gaps around Pakistan's nuclear weapons program."

The US security concerns on Pakistan are so serious that one budget section focusing on the movement of such weapons divides the world in two: One category is Pakistan, the other is everyone else.

The US's main concern seems to be whether Pakistan can keep its own nuclear, chemical, and biological sites safe; the US fear is that Islamist militants could attack or take control of these nuclear sites.