Making A Nuclear
Bomb in Saddam's Iraq
By Dr Afzal Mirza CA
Joseph Conrad in
his book Lord Jim had shown that there was a difference
of a split second between a hero and a coward.
After reading Dr Khidhir Hamza's book "Saddam's
Bomb Maker" (Scribner New York) one wonders what
could be the difference between a patriot and
a traitor.
Dr Kidhir Hamza is a theoretical physicist who
was involved in Saddam Hussain's quest for making
a nuclear bomb. In 1994 he managed to stage a
thrilling escape from Iraq and now he has come
out with his story that reminds us of a James
Bond thriller. Forgetting that how far his account
is true the narrative is so interesting that I
finished the book in a few sittings.
The book was of interest to me because Pakistan
also successfully made a nuclear bomb and if we
compare the money doled out by Saddam Hussain
in this venture and the number of people that
worked and perished during that project we have
the satisfaction that Pakistani scientists accomplished
this task without any fanfare and singular devotion
within available means. I am not here to discuss
whether on Pakistan's part it was justified to
divert so much money towards making a bomb which
could be gainfully spent on the uplift of the
standard of living of our masses but Iraq being
an oil-producing country could easily afford it.
Actually, the whole Iraqi program was mismanaged
from the very start. It was all due to the way
of working of a ruthless dictator that Saddam
was and as Hamza has painted him to be because
according to his philosophy either one should
deliver or he should face a firing squad. Thus
all the people associated with this project were
all the time on razor's edge and Saddam made so
quick changes in the top echelon of the nuclear
project that those working for him never felt
settled to do their work with devotion and peace
of mind.
The book has a quotation from Saddam on the first
page that says, "Don't tell me about the law.
The law is anything I write on a piece of paper."
The story begins with Khidhir's escape from Baghdad
in a smuggler's car. He heads towards the north
of the country in the area of Kurds and there
he meets the now famous and denounced al Chalabi
who maintains a dispensation in that area with
the help of the CIA. Chalabi later puts him on
to the CIA operatives in Washington through phone
but they insist on Khidhir to spill the beans
first that Khidhir doesn't want to do without
any assurance that he and his family would be
taken to America and allowed to settle there.
It seems that the US was Khidhir's dreamland.
Earlier, he had gone to America to study theoretical
physics and after taking a master's degree from
MIT he went on to do his PhD from University of
Florida. After a short stint as a post doctoral
fellow Khidhir got a job as a teacher in a small
Georgia College and was happily settled there
when he received a call from home to return and
fulfill his agreement of serving in his own country
for the number of years that he spent abroad.
Thus he landed back in Baghdad.
He was ordered to work in the physics department
of the Nuclear Research Center at Atomic Energy.
He headed a group to analyze reactor experiments
and was also teaching at the University of Baghdad.
His parents now wanted him to marry and he was
made to tie his nuptial knot with a 15-year old
girl almost half his age whose official age was
elevated to 16 years by bribing the magistrate.
Those were the days when Saddam was gradually
rising in the hierarchy. Khidhir writes, "Saddam
born in 1937 never knew his father, a shepherd,
who died around the time of his birth… When he
was only eleven he shot his teacher bringing a
temporary end to his formal education…Saddam drifted
about Tikrit brawling and drinking like his uncles
until he was seventeen.
Most of the boys of his age joined army but he
drifted into the Baathists who espoused a muddy
mix of Arab nationalism and left-wing revolution.
After his botched assignment to shoot Colonel
Abdul Karim Qassim he fled abroad and spent three
years in Egypt and Syria where by most accounts
he was a brawler leaving a trail of unpaid restaurant
bills and a reputation for barroom fights. In
1963 he sped back to Baghdad for the coup that
failed and he was thrown in jail. In 1968 Baathists
shot back into power and he became vice president."
It is then that his close confidantes in the Atomic
Energy Sharif and al-Mallah invited Khidhir to
a private dinner.
He writes, "Then Sharif abruptly turned to me
and changed the subject. Had I read the new book
called The Israeli Bomb? It was written by Fouad
Jabir, an American of Palestinian origin. Of course
I had. It was the talk of Arab intelligentsia
…its theme was that the Arab world faced bleak
future as long as Israel was building nuclear
bombs and Arabs had none….'What do you think of
Jabir's book?' Sharif suddenly asked me directly.
'It's a ridiculous study', I said offhandedly
." He cited three reasons. Firstly, the type of
reactor that they have can't produce much plutonium.
Secondly, to collect such a big arsenal they have
to test at least one device.
Thirdly, the cost of making such a bomb is so
high that Israelis won't make such an investment.
Partly agreeing with Khidhir they then advised
him to prepare a plan for a "real live nuclear
program" - even the peaceful part of it would
be beneficial for the country. If they keep Saddam
happy they could get as much amount of money as
they needed. Here Khidhir has tried to play pious
by writing about his abhorrence for atomic bombs.
Anyway, as decided the plan was prepared and the
work started. He mentions of a number of encounters
with Saddam and also describes in detail some
acts of his debauchery and highhandedness.
In the first encounter Khidhir thought he sensed
some independence in him (Khidhir) and made the
only point he wanted to make: He was in-charge.
Once given the assignment by Saddam, Khidhir set
about to collect the necessary gadgetry and traveled
throughout the world. In the meantime Saddam himself
assumed the office of the president of the country
and he embarked on his diabolic program of subduing
Shias by striking on Iran which he thought was
supporting Shia insurgency in his country. In
this venture he was backed by the US because the
ouster of Shah and emergence of clerics in Iran
under the leadership of Khomaini had resulted
in a great setback to America. As the war prolonged
Saddam's priorities were also undergoing change.
The emphasis was now on chemical and biological
weapons of mass destruction. Once the long war
was over in which a large number of youth from
both sides of the divide perished he again thought
of activating the nuclear program and Khidhir
had to travel to Russia, Poland, Hungary, England,
America and other places and he writes interesting
account of his travels. But then Saddam attacked
Kuwait and when America came to Kuwait's help,
Saddam's Iraq was again in trouble. He was now
desperate to have the bomb but Khidhir and his
colleagues were restricted by uranium enrichment
facility which they had failed to develop.
In the meantime Khidhir enormously enriched himself
and was now ready to slip out of Iraq. After arriving
in Kurd-controlled area and meeting Chalabi he
got disappointed. Then he contacted Allavi, the
present prime minister of Iraq's interim government,
who was then living in London and enjoying CIA's
hospitality. Failing to get a palatable response
from him he managed to get a forged passport and
got smuggled into Turkey from where he escaped
to Libya and being dogged by Saddam's secret agents
he ultimately landed into America after reporting
to the American embassy in Budapest.
After going through this engaging book written
in highly readable style some questions rake up
our mind. Were these Iraqis serious to make the
bomb or were they so incompetent that enormous
funds at their disposal couldn't make them produce
a bomb? It seems that most of the money was swindled
away by Saddam's close relatives who were supervising
the project. One must therefore commend Pakistani
scientists who accomplished the same task so competently.
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