Synopses & Reviews
A news-breaking inside look at Saddam's nuclear programby the Iraqi scientist who ran it.
No one knows more about Iraq's nuclear weapons program than Mahdi Obeidi, the man who headed its successful uranium enrichment effort. In the immediate, chaotic aftermath of the 2003 war in Iraq, Obeidi contacted the arms inspectors he had been forced to lie to for so many years, and voluntarily turned over the key plans and parts to U.S. intelligence. Among the revelations reported by the international media at the time: In the early 1990s, under orders to hide the core of the program from UN weapons inspectors, Obeidi had buried in his backyard garden the critical elements necessary to build uranium-enriching gas centrifuges. What he turned over to U.S. intelligence in the summer of 2003 proved to be the entire remains of a program put on hold since the last Gulf War. Now, at last, Obeidi tells all, taking us inside Saddam's regime and revealing the truth about its quest for nuclear weapons. He captures in nail-biting detail what life was like directly under Saddam's watchful eye the intimidation, the paranoia, the impossible deadlines.
In The Bomb in My Garden, Dr. Obeidi reveals how he circumvented the international safeguards specifically intended to bar developing nations from obtaining the knowledge and materials needed to build nuclear weapons. He recounts his many "shopping trips" abroad, during which he inveigled, bribed, and cajoled scientists and engineers at companies throughout the United States and Europe into assisting him. And he details the complex system of front companies and financial institutions he used to pull it all off.
Dr. Obeidi also provides an intimate portrait of unrealized promise and a nation's decline into madness. In relating his transformation from an idealistic young engineer into a tyrant's reluctant cat's-paw, Dr. Obeidi offers a rare glimpse into the workings of Saddam's inner circle. In chilling detail, he describes the fever dream of intimidation, paranoia, and absurd demands that characterized his years under the thumb of Saddam's sociopathic son-in-law, Hussein Kamel. And he describes the bittersweet sense of triumph he and his team experienced on achieving in a matter of months what, by all objective standards, was a technical near-impossibility.
Written with the pace and drama of a spy thriller, this eye-opening account will serve as a cautionary tale about the dangers of nuclear proliferation. At the same time, it provides a powerful reminder of how what is best in a nation and its citizens can become hopelessly perverted when the reins of power are left too long in the hands of self-serving and unscrupulous leaders.
Review
"This compact and absorbing book reads like a thriller and adds considerably to our knowledge of the Iraq WMD situation....[A]n eloquent tale..." Publishers Weekly
Review
"This one book will tell you more about Iraq's quest for weapons of mass destruction than all U.S. intelligence on the subject. It is a fascinating and rare glimpse inside Saddam Hussein's Iraq and inside a tyrant's mind." Fareed Zakaria, author of The Future of Freedom
Review
"The Bomb in My Garden is important and utterly gripping. The old cliché is true you start reading, and you don't want to stop. Mahdi Obeidi's story makes clear how hard Saddam Hussein tried to develop a nuclear weapon, and the reasons he fell short. It is also unforgettable as a picture of how honorable people tried to cope with a despot's demands. I enthusiastically recommend this book." James Fallows, national correspondent, The Atlantic Monthly
Review
"Obeidi was the key scientist in Saddam's centrifuge program, and he was central when they tried to conceal it. He was already thought to be too friendly to the weapons inspectors, and he showed considerable personal courage in coming forward as he did during very unsettled conditions after the war." David Kay, former UN weapons inspector and Head of the Iraqi Survey Group in charge of searching for weapons of mass destruction
Synopsis
With the pace and drama of a spy thriller, Dr. Obeidi the scientist forced to edge Saddam Hussein close to attaining his dream of possessing nuclear weapons narrates terrifying episodes in a cautionary tale about nuclear proliferation.
Synopsis
Forced to develop what became the only Iraqi uranium enrichment project that worked, Dr. Obeidi was responsible for edging Saddam close to attaining his dream of possessing nuclear weapons. Part of the power of this revelation-filled book is Dr. Obeidi's descriptions of the intrepid-spy-style trickery he used to accomplish his mission. He took countless incognito trips abroad to dupe or bribe scientists and engineers at companies in America, Europe, and Asia into releasing heavily guarded, top secret information and materials.
He also explains the sophisticated system of front companies and financial institutions he used to pull this off. He was the only scientist whom Saddam Hussein specifically ordered hidden from the first U.N. inspectors in the early 1990s, and was then forced to lead the campaign to deceive the inspectors searching for nuclear arms. This is also the fascinating story of the dark corners of life inside Saddam's inner circle the intimidation, paranoia, impossible deadlines and dire consequences for not meeting them.
With the pace and drama of a spy thriller, Dr. Obeidi narrates terrifying episodes in a cautionary tale about nuclear proliferation. It is Dr. Obeidi's hope that by laying out the facts, the public will be able to look beyond the contentious issues of this war to the vital task of preventing dictators and terrorist from getting their hands on the nuclear bomb.
Synopsis
Praise for The Bomb in My Garden
"This one book will tell you more about Iraqs quest for weapons of mass destruction than all U.S. intelligence on the subject. It is a fascinating and rare glimpse inside Saddam Husseins Iraqand inside a tyrants mind."
Fareed Zakaria
author of The Future of Freedom
"The Bomb in My Garden is important and utterly gripping. The old cliché is trueyou start reading, and you dont want to stop. Mahdi Obeidis story makes clear how hard Saddam Hussein tried to develop a nuclear weapon, and the reasons he fell short. It is also unforgettable as a picture of how honorable people tried to cope with a despots demands. I enthusiastically recommend this book."
James Fallows
National Correspondent, The Atlantic Monthly
"Obeidi was the key scientist in Saddams centrifuge program, and he was central when they tried to conceal it. He was already thought to be too friendly to the weapons inspectors, and he showed considerable personal courage in coming forward as he did during very unsettled conditions after the war."
David Kay
former UN weapons inspector and Head of the Iraqi Survey Group in charge of searching for weapons of mass destruction
Synopsis
Praise for The Bomb in My Garden
"This one book will tell you more about Iraqs quest for weapons of mass destruction than all U.S. intelligence on the subject. It is a fascinating and rare glimpse inside Saddam Husseins Iraqand inside a tyrants mind."
Fareed Zakaria
author of The Future of Freedom
"The Bomb in My Garden is important and utterly gripping. The old cliché is trueyou start reading, and you dont want to stop. Mahdi Obeidis story makes clear how hard Saddam Hussein tried to develop a nuclear weapon, and the reasons he fell short. It is also unforgettable as a picture of how honorable people tried to cope with a despots demands. I enthusiastically recommend this book."
James Fallows
National Correspondent, The Atlantic Monthly
"Obeidi was the key scientist in Saddams centrifuge program, and he was central when they tried to conceal it. He was already thought to be too friendly to the weapons inspectors, and he showed considerable personal courage in coming forward as he did during very unsettled conditions after the war."
David Kay
former UN weapons inspector and Head of the Iraqi Survey Group in charge of searching for weapons of mass destruction
Synopsis
No one knows more about Iraqs nuclear weapons program than Mahdi Obeidi, the man who headed its successful uranium enrichment effort. In the immediate, chaotic aftermath of the 2003 war in Iraq, Obeidi contacted the arms inspectors he had been forced to lie to for so many years, and voluntarily turned over the key plans and parts to U.S. intelligence. Among the revelations reported by the international media at the time: In the early 1990s, under orders to hide the core of the program from UN weapons inspectors, Obeidi had buried in his backyard garden the critical elements necessary to build uranium-enriching gas centrifuges. What he turned over to U.S. intelligence in the summer of 2003 proved to be the entire remains of a program put on hold since the last Gulf War. Now, at last, Obeidi tells all, taking us inside Saddams regime and revealing the truth about its quest for nuclear weapons. He captures in nail-biting detail what life was like directly under Saddams watchful eyethe intimidation, the paranoia, the impossible deadlines.
In The Bomb in My Garden, Dr. Obeidi reveals how he circumvented the international safeguards specifically intended to bar developing nations from obtaining the knowledge and materials needed to build nuclear weapons. He recounts his many "shopping trips" abroad, during which he inveigled, bribed, and cajoled scientists and engineers at companies throughout the United States and Europe into assisting him. And he details the complex system of front companies and financial institutions he used to pull it all off.
Dr. Obeidi also provides an intimate portrait of unrealized promise and a nations decline into madness. In relating his transformation from an idealistic young engineer into a tyrants reluctant cats-paw, Dr. Obeidi offers a rare glimpse into the workings of Saddams inner circle. In chilling detail, he describes the fever dream of intimidation, paranoia, and absurd demands that characterized his years under the thumb of Saddams sociopathic son-in-law Hussein Kamel. And he describes the bittersweet sense of triumph he and his team experienced on achieving in a matter of months what, by all objective standards, was a technical near-impossibility.
Written with the pace and drama of a spy thriller, this eye-opening account will serve as a cautionary tale about the dangers of nuclear proliferation. At the same time, it provides a powerful reminder of how what is best in a nation and its citizens can become hopelessly perverted when the reins of power are left too long in the hands of self-serving and unscrupulous leaders.
About the Author
MAHDI OBEIDI oversaw Saddam’s top-secret centrifuge program and later became director-general of Iraq’s Ministry of Industry and Military Industrialization. The few remaining components and plans for the uranium enriching centrifuge that he voluntarily turned over to the United States during the war still represent the largest collection of evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
KURT PITZER began the Iraq war embedded with the U.S. Army’s 3rd Infantry Division and jumped his embed when Baghdad fell. He met Obeidi there and helped him turn his secrets over to the United States. A journalist with more than a decade’s experience, he has reported from the Balkans, the Middle East, and Afghanistan for the Associated Press, the Los Angeles Times, the Boston Globe, and numerous magazines.
Table of Contents
Preface ix
1. The Bomb in My Garden 1
2. Early Ambitions 29
3. The Centrifuge 53
4. Saddam's Grip 71
5. Shopping in Europe 99
6. The Crash Program 119
7. Nuclear Hide-and-Seek 141
8. The Dark Years 161
9. The March to War 185
10. The Time Capsule 203
Epilogue 225
Acknowledgments 231
Index 233