They keep telling us that they are but it is hard to determine whether that is just bluster or whether they really have the situation well in hand. In fact, the more assurances they give us, it seems the less we believe them.

Bush authorized $100 million to "harden" the Pakistan nuclear sites but according to this troubling piece in the New York Times by David Sanger , no one knows where or how that money has been spent, or how much of it has been used. The facility to train Pakistani troops in nuclear security is apparently way behind schedule too:

"I'm confident that we can make sure that Pakistan's nuclear arsenal is secure," Mr. Obama said Wednesday, "primarily, initially, because the Pakistani Army, I think, recognizes the hazards of those weapons falling into the wrong hands." He added: "We've got strong military-to-military consultation and cooperation."

But that cooperation, according to officials who would not speak for attribution because of the sensitivity surrounding the exchanges between Washington and Islamabad, has been sharply limited when the subject has turned to the vulnerabilities in the Pakistani nuclear infrastructure. The Obama administration inherited from President Bush a multiyear, $100 million secret American program to help Pakistan build stronger physical protections around some of those facilities, and to train Pakistanis in nuclear security.

But much of that effort has now petered out, and American officials have never been permitted to see how much of the money was spent, the facilities where the weapons are kept or even a tally of how many Pakistan has produced. The facility Pakistan was supposed to build to conduct its own training exercises is running years behind schedule.