The Bomb in My Garden: The Secrets of Saddams Nuclear Mastermind

Product Review

Acclaim for the Bomb in My Garden

"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

"The Bomb in My Garden is important and utterly gripping. The old clich? 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

"One of the three or four accounts that anyone remotely interested in the Iraq debate will simply have to read. Apart from its insight into the workings of the Saddam nuclear project, it provides a haunting account of the atmosphere of sheer evil that permeated every crevice of Iraqi life under the old regime."
-christopher hitchens, Slate

"Mahdi Obeidi describes in jaw-dropping detail how Iraq acquired the means to produce highly enriched uranium, the key ingredient to building a nuclear weapon, by the eve of the first Gulf War. . . . [His book] offers insights into how a determined dictator, backed by sufficient resources, can come within reach of acquiring the world's most horrific weapons."
-The Washington Post BookWorld

Customer Reviews

Average Customer Review

(17 customer reviews)

40 of 43 people found the following review helpful

Retro from Tampa, September 30, 2004

John Adams "John Adams" (Tampa, FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Bomb in My Garden: The Secrets of Saddam's Nuclear Mastermind (Hardcover)

This is an extremely interesting and timely book that makes the case that Saddam was both dillusional and determined to build the bomb. The author describes Saddam's intent to wait out the U.N. and then reconstitute his program, and he clearly states that Iraq would have been able to shave months if not years off the delivery of a nuclear bomb.

Saddam, like Hitler in the 20s and early 30s, was clearly a grave and gathering threat who would threaten the world with WMD. This story actually cooberates the Administrations claim that Iraq could have reconstituted its program in months, and with the acquisition of a small amount of enriched uranium or plutonium, threatened the world.

Finally, the author makes clear that Saddam had the intent to build a bomb, and certainly the money to acquire fissile material from the corrupt oil for food program. Waiting, as Kerry now suggests he would have done, until the threat was imminent, would be too late.

Thank...Read more

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful

fascinating and completely gripping story, October 22, 2004

Alexander Keefe (Bellevue, Wa United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Bomb in My Garden: The Secrets of Saddam's Nuclear Mastermind (Hardcover)

This book was by far the most interesting and factual account of Saddam's regime that anybody is likely to find.

Dr. Obiedi gave an extremely detailed story of how the nuclear weapons program in Iraq started and how it progressed. He even explained to basics of nuclear science (in lamens terms) so you, the reader, can fully understand the implications of Saddam's actions (and how incredibly close he came to possessing weapons of mass destruction).

He did very well in expressing his almost constant fear that he, his family and his friends could be killed or jailed at any time for almost anything (including something as simple as missing a deadline for paperwork..)

How his superiors absolutely refused to listen to reason and would make up ludicrous deadlines for him in completing his science (a great example of this is Dr. Obeidi's boss Hussain Kamal said he wanted to start a nuclear weapons program and to have nuclear capabilities in 45 days.. from...Read more

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful

A Memoir of the Nightmare of Working For Saddam Hussein, October 31, 2004

C. Hutton "book maven" (East Coast, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Bomb in My Garden: The Secrets of Saddam's Nuclear Mastermind (Hardcover)

This well-written and compelling personal account is written by a Iraqi scientist involved in Saddam Hussein's nuclear weapons program. It is a story of one person's survival in the bizarre world that Hussein created during his two decade rule of Iraq.

Mahdi Obeidi gives his perspective of only one facet of the various weapons of mass destruction which Hussein was procuring. It was fascinating to learn that he received an American college education (Colorado School of Mines) before his eventual involvement with the Iraqi Atomic Energy Commision at its birth. Once Hussein comes to power, his accidental career choice (he never grew up dreaming of nuclear physics) became a near deadly career choice.

The antidotes of creating and then hiding a covert nuclear program is the heart of the book -- one is back in the world of spycraft and not the world of nuclear fusion. After the fall of Baghdad, Mr. Obeidi cooperated with the American military intellience in handing...Read more