An open attack on Pakistan by the US, however, will belooked upon as a "betrayal", especially by other Islamic states that havebeen wooed by the US. Then how could the US justify action to remove thelong-term Pakistani threat? A civil war, which Pakistan is being pushed towardsby US pressure, would provide just such an opportunity. Once a coup happens, theUS could cite an imminent threat of Indo-Pakistan nuclear war, and use acombination of air strikes and commando operations against extreme Islamicelements in the Pakistani military. Such operations would include securing andremoval of the 25+ Pakistani nuclear-capable missiles. These missiles arecrucial for any Pakistani first strike threat, given that they would arrive attargets in Indian cities in minutes. The only other Pakistani means of nucleardelivery are F-16s. These could be destroyed in a sudden and massive strike attheir air bases, and those that manage to take off towards India intercepted bya combination of US and Indian fighters.