A political implosion in that nuclear-armed country is something Washington deems unthinkable - but not impossible.

The two countries, both nuclear-armed, nearly went to war last year after India accused Pakistan of supporting cross-border attacks.

Indian officials also visited Washington, and Secretary of State Powell went to both nuclear-armed countries to call for peace.

Opposition political groups have dismissed the American charges as false claims aimed at weakening the world's only nuclear-armed Muslim country.

This leaves open the likelihood that other nuclear-armed countries might mistake it for a nuclear launch which could provoke a counterattack.

The immediate historical evidence clearly demonstrates nuclear-armed countries will not launch an attack on another such country for fear of retaliation.

The two nuclear-armed countries nearly went to war in May after an attack by militants on Indian soldiers and their families killed 32 people.

The governments of nuclear-armed countries rightly perceive this as a threat to their defence strategies and decide to send all the stones back to Mars.

You have a bunch of nuclear-armed countries threatening non-nuclear armed you.

Not much is known about the man who could become the next leader of the unpredictable, nuclear-armed country, even including what he looks like.