Allah's Bomb, The Islamic Quest for Nuclear Weapons, (Book Review)

The Right Truth Book Club has been reading Allah's Bomb, The Islamic Quest for Nuclear Weapons, by Al. J. Venter. This book is a must have for any reader interested in the history of nuclear weapons and concerned about Islamic terrorists obtaining and using them. The reader would never guess that the book went from conception to completion in just thirty days. Mr. Venter tells readers:

A day after North Korea's first atom bomb blast, we spoke about possibly putting something out ... [editor] Tom [McCarthy] went right at it with his board, and days later we had the approval to go ahead. There was one proviso, however: I had just thirty days in which to complete the book.

Mr. Venter has produced a book that is well written, well researched, well sourced, and easy reading for the nuclear novice. Also, the layout of the material lends itself to quick reference for research purposes.

The history of the spread of nuclear information, materials, capabilities, is amazing on many levels; however, the king of the Islamic nuclear hill is A. Q. Kahn. Mr. Venter leaves out no detail of the A. Q. Kahn legacy.

Without assistance from the [Kahn] network, it is unlikely that Iran would have been able to develop the ability to enrich uranium using gas centrifuges -- now that country's most advanced and threatening nuclear program.

We've all heard Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claim Iran's 'right' to have a nuclear program. He expresses the thoughts of all Islamic countries, according to Mr. Venter. The name of this book, "Allah's Bomb", 'is neither irreverent nor is it demeaning' says Mr. Venter.

The average Muslim in the Near East, Europe, or North America will tell you that Islamic states -- like their Western or Asian counterparts -- have every right to pursue whatever scientific discipline they choose, nuclear included. "It is Allah's Will," they will proudly say.

In Chapter 5, Mr. Venter points out that 'the first time anybody will know whether Iran has the bomb or not, is when they use it.' Detractors will say that Iran has no delivery system for getting a nuclear bomb to the United States, even though we all know they do have the capability to deliver a nuke to Israel.

Significantly, people involved in such things have maintained all along that it is not necessary to physically land a nuclear weapon on American soil in order to cause destruction. Such a device could be detonated while still on board a ship in New York (or any other) harbor.

That possibility goes for Iran, terrorists from Al-Qaeda, or any other country or group.

On November 4, 2006 ... The headline in the London Times that day read "Six Arab States Join Rush To Go Nuclear." They were named as Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, and Saudi Arabia, with Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates also showing an interest, the British newspaper disclosed. [snip]

Saudi Arabia is thought by some intelligence operatives to already have the bomb, bought at a hefty price from Pakistan and tipped atop either Pakistani Ghauri-IIs or North Korean No-Dong missiles (which, with Iranian Shahab-3s, come essentially from the same stable). [snip]

While the book Allah's Bomb is about nukes, Mr. Venter includes information about other serious threats, (WMN, conventional, unconventional) such as 'Syria's "hundreds of tons" of nerve gas and other CW agents,' including Sarin, VX, and mustard gas, being produced yearly, according to Janes. Venter also notes that Syria has 'invested a fortune in what is termed "an effective missile shield."

Surprising to me, Mr. Venter reports "Brazil today might arguably be just as focused as Iran in developing an advanced and sophisticated nuclear program."

As someone else was heard to comment, the only reason why nobody is getting into a tizz about Brazil's nuclear intentions is because its leaders don't wish to remove the State of Israel off the face of the map. The same argument applies to Japan.

Of course the concern is not just which countries have nuclear materials or capabilities, but the access terrorists might have to these materials. Mr. Venter's section titled 'Ominous Last Word' alone is worth the price of the book. You'll have to buy the book for that. I highly recommend this book. You will read it, mark it with highlighter, dog-ear it's pages, and keep it at arm's reach for future reference.

You can read an interview with Mr. Venter here at Politixxx.com. I found this of particular interest (emphasis mine):

5. Since WMDs weren't found in Iraq, was this due to the fact that U.N. sanctions and weapons inspections had been effective?

Where contemporary Iraq is concerned, it is important that we very clearly differentiate between Gulf War 1 of the early 1990s and Gulf War 2 of four or five years ago.

After the Coalition Forces under General Colin Powell went into Iraq and almost destroyed the Iraqi Army, the United Nations sent in its own people under the banner of UNSCOM [United Nations Special Commission]. For some years these specialists uncovered troves of weapons of mass destruction, the full gambit - chemical, biological and nuclear, as well as missiles. It is all detailed and in the public domain: a Google search will reveal much of it.

It took a few years before the full extent of Saddam's nuclear weapons program was exposed - together with the 20,000 scientists, technicians and others who were involved. It took even longer to bring to justice scores of foreigners - many from Europe - who were involved in supplying this massive effort which cost billions, the majority motivated by greed, as are some of the foreigners now working in Iran. Many were Europeans. So was the Pakistani rogue scientist A.Q. Khan: he traveled several times to Baghdad. As for the lack of evidence of weapons of mass destruction following the second invasion of Iraq in the new millennium, we now know that a lot of it was moved out of the country, by road through Syria. It was an obvious move: Saddam was aware of what the U.S. could do with its military and while he might have been a buffoon, he wasn't stupid.

Mr. Venter is known for his twenty plus other books, from The Terror Fighters (1969) to Soldier of Fortune (fiction 1980), to Diving with Sharks (2007) and of specific interest to me, Iran's Nuclear Option: Tehran's Quest for the Atom Bomb (2005). Mr. Venter writes for Jane's International Defence Review Jane's Defence Weekly, Jane's Intelligence Review and Jane's Islamic Affairs Analyst.

For those of you who have read the book, please feel free to post your comments here for discussion.

The next book we will be reading for the month of May, is Integrated Technical Warfare by by R.J. Godlewski. You can order the paperback version from CafePress ($12.02), or read a free pdf version here.

_______________________________________________________________________
Related:
Muslim nuke engineer took software codes, details of control rooms and reactors to Iran, via Christians Under Attack (azcentral.com)

Linked with:
123Beta, On The Air and here

Comments

[Stormwarning]

I haven't read "Allah's Bomb" but I am studying and reading source material (or as near to it) on the al Qaeda nuclear threat.

[Debbie]

Stormwarning, thanks for all the information on the NEXT read. I will save it and post in when I do the review of the newly selected book.

But what did you think about this book, Allah's Bomb?

[Stormwarning]

OK, I've just finished "reading" the May selection, "Integrated Technical Warfare" by R.J. Godlewski (pronounced according the author, God-less-ky). While there is no obligation to do so, acceptance of my personal experience and background in this and related areas would help. In this case, I am my own "source."

To start with, creating a civilian counterterrorism unit within a business is beyond my comprehension. That is not to say that many businesses do not now have and maintain a security officer, and sometimes even a support staff...because they do. Importantly, Godlewski doesn't define what type or size of business or commercial entity should adopt his approach. But when you get to the list of skill sets and people that should comprise "your" CTU is where my separation from his "reality" began. Clearly, by reading this "novel" you can conclude that his recommendation is that "all" businesses should establish their own CTU.

Alot of what the author writes in this "novel" is, in my opinion, highly self-promoting (he's started alot of acronynm entities, including INERT - International
Nuclear Emergency Response Team).

I would much rather take advise from Richie Sheirer (and I have, and have attended a number of his talks) than this author.

Granted, much of the text follows a pattern of using facts to support the next phase flight of fantasy.

Without analyzing very page of this 103 page document, at the end, Godlewski describes what he calls T-REX (Terrorism, Research, Evaluation and Expectation)...a process of data gathering, analysis, interpretation and alert. THIS is far from the reality of the basic data fusion/harvesting and analysis model now being worked with in the most state-of-the-thinking counterterrorism and homeland security analyst systems:

1. Anticipation, preparation, threat definition
2. ID indicators, and warning
3. Mitigation (avoidance and containment
4. Response, roles, missions, support, transitions at various levels:

· Pre-event
· During event
· Post event

5. Recovery and return to "normal"

[I cannot draw the pentagram (a five-sided star) surrounded by a pantagon that shows the interdependencies of the above].

I read it. My opinion is that I'm glad it didn't take too much of my time. However, afterall, this is just my opinion...

[Butch]

Debbie,

Although I haven't finished the book as of yet (sorry) I agree 100% with your review. Can't wait to finish it.

[Layla]

Great review.

I am going to download the PDF so that I can be more in sync with what you are talking about. Though your review brings me up to speed I would have like to have also read the book so I could really give my own views for better discussion.

I love this book club idea. You go girl!