Rating: 
Summary: Two Years Later, Hamza Still Vindicated
Review: Eternally brought to shame are those who for pure political purposes said Saddam's Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction. These appeasers also claimed that Hamza fooled all the intelligence agencies.
Slowly but surely, Hamza's claims in this book about nuclear, chemical and biological warfare programs are shown to be true:
1. Libya surrendered its WMD program and had many links with Iraqi nuclear scientists. The US seized some nuclear program materials and now safe-keep them at Oak Ridge National Lab.
2. Iraq attempted to purchase long range nuclear missiles from North Korea.
3. HAMZA CLAIMED INSIDE KNOWLEDGE OF SADDAM'S CHEMICAL AND BIO-WEAPONS PROGRAMS ALSO. The Cybercast News Service, October 4, 2004, announced the findings of new military intelligence files with Saddam's signatures pointing to STOCKPILES OF WEAPONS GRADE ANTHRAX and bio-weapons ( A BIO-WEAPON STOCKPILE IS SMALL ENOUGH TO FIT IN A BREAD BOX).
4. In the spring/summer of 2004 US Armed forces found large amounts of processable uranium in Iraq.
5. The Al-Tuwaitha Nuclear Facility in Iraq was part of Saddam's system that employed a staff comparable to the USA's Argonne National Laboratory. Russian nuclear physicists had many ties to Iraq's program.
6. On close inspection, the CHARGES THAT BUSH LIED ABOUT THE NIGERIAN URANIUM YELLOWCAKE TRADE TO IRAQ ARE FALSE. BLAIR'S INTELLIGENCE WAS CORRECT ALSO AND NEVER BACKED DOWN. Slowly but surely, Joe Wilson (the former CIA guy who claimed the Iraq-Niger connection was bogus and claimed his wife was illegally exposed to the enemy) did not get his facts right.
Rating: 
Summary: thought provoking book
Review: Few of us who fulfill our youthful ambitions as adults do so at the cost of being jailed, tortured and forced to flee from our homeland. Khidhir Hamza, an Iraqi scientist, was happily teaching college in America, when he was ordered back home. Despite having almost nothing in the way of workable plans, Saddam, determined to develop nuclear weapons, charged Hamza and others with this task. Despite many obstacles, not the least of which was Saddam's mercurial leadership, the goal was reached. But many of Hamza's colleagues were jailed or put to death, causing the author to finally take the bravest step of all - getting himself and his family safely out of Iraq. A real thriller made even more horrifying by the fact that it's all non-fiction.
Rating:
Summary: Succeeds as thriller and technical autobiography
Review: Post September 11, the 24-hour news shows have produced many specials on dangers in the Middle East, including Saddam's development of weapons of mass destruction. This book fits perfectly into the puzzle, providing depth and explanation to subjects TV can treat only superficially.I have watched carefully for any inconsistencies between those reports and Hamza's book, finding none. In fact, David Kay, former chief UN weapons inspector in Iraq, who praises Hamza's book, figures prominently in several of those specials. It is consistent. Saddam's Bombmaker works on several levels: * The personal story is engaging and exciting.
* The view of different cultures and ways of life is developed through many disturbing examples.
* The technical details of acquiring and developing materials for a nuclear weapon were just right (I wanted enough to know it was real, but not enough to build one myself). The few criticisms I have read in earlier reviews confuse me. Those readers say that the book is too technical, not technical enough, or too focused on Hamza, himself. It IS an autobiography of a nuclear engineer, meant for a popular audience. It is not an investigative report of Iraq's weapons development effort, but it does give a remarkable insight into that because we hear the personal story of the person at the very top of the nuclear effort (which meant he was also privy to other programs). Like Richard Preston's Hot Zone, this is an exciting, can't-put-the-book-down thriller with enough technical detail to prove that it's real.
Rating:
Summary: Saddam's Bombmaker
Review: Saddam Hussein, leader of Iraq, will stop at nothing to develop a nuclear bombandto use it when he feels it's necessary. Saddam's Bombmaker is a story about Khidhir Hamza and his life for 27 years under saddam's regime. He came to the United states to study at MIT and then at Flordia State University where he became a nuclear physicist. He worked in the United States as a teacher until he was summoned back to Iraq's by Saddam's regime. His family would be tortured if he didn't return. This is a great book that tells everyone about how powerful Saddam is in Iraq. It tells us how if he wants something bad enough, he will do anything to get it.
Rating:
Summary: True to life thriller
Review: The author tells in exciting detail what it was like to be part of the Saddam regime, after getting his college education in the United States. Those who currently deride our President for thinking Saddam was not constantly interested in materials for a nuclear bomb with which to smash Israel would do well to read this volume. Saddam was not only obsessed with power, he was obsessed with hatred for Israel, and worked obsessively to obtain a nuclear bomb.
Rating:
Summary: Darring!
Review: The book is fascinating, but now we know that it is completely untrue. None of the uranium enrichment facilities described by Hamzah have been found and the aluminum tubes he mentions were determined to be unsuitable for use in centrifuges by U.S. nuclear weapons experts. It is significant that Hamzah was brought to the U.S. by Ahmed Chalabi, who has been involved in the almost all of the "defectors" that we now know to be frauds. They had every incentive to lie: Hamzah gets fame, wealth and asylum and Chalabi gets to govern Iraq. Once you know the book is fiction, it makes a good read, though.
Rating:
Summary: Great book!
Review: This book is a page turner, suspense, thriller from page one to the end. Definately worth the money and time to get a first hand account of Saddam and his ruthlesness.
Rating:
Summary: Almost Seems Unreal
Review: This book reads like a spy novel. But Dr. Hamsa's story is very important. The chief of Saddam's nuclear bomb project his story is fantastic. From his own rough childhood as one of 14 children, 9 that died before the age of 1 year and the last birth killing his mother during the process. Life was clearly hard in Iraq. With his education in the United States at MIT and in Florida he was recruite to build a nuclear bomb, from scratch, for Iraq. This is a great insight into life in Iraq for the regular folks and the priveledged. Dr. Hamza was one of the priveledged, living within the walls of the Presidential Palace. The conditions the Iraqi's live in are unbelievable. Dr. Hamza's story of how easy it is to buy the parts and machines needed to build a bomb are frightening. From countries that supposedly are watching Iraq. The United States, Great Britain, France, Russia. The list goes on. Dr. Hamza's tale of his escape from Iraq is also devastating to those that think the United States government and the CIA are on top of things. The apparently didn't know who Dr. Hamza was and when he tried to explain they laughed at him. What kind of information did they actually have on the goings on inside Iraq? Dr. Hamza's story is a must read for anyone interested in current events or history, as we are living history now. His opinions are insightful and offered as one who has lived in Iraq, under Saddam and his opinions should be considered. Read this book. It is an important book and is very interesting.
Rating:
Summary: A must read about the former Iraqi Regime
Review: This book will open the eyes of even those who think they know Saddam's regime. The book gives an incredible first hand account of what life was like under Saddam for a high rank offical, which the author is. The author was a man who worked on (and later headed) the Iraqi nuclear program, and goes into how Saddam sought for decades anything that would help the nuclear program along. Dr. Hamzah also shows the complete lack of interest the IAEA had in Iraq's nuclear program. He also shows how France, who Saddam bought a nuclear reactor from, had no interest what so ever in why Saddam wanted a reactor. He shows that all the French were interested in was making money. However, Dr. Hamzah does not bore the reader with just talk about nuclear programs and highly complex nuclear science. He also tells the reader what living under Saddam was like and how NO one was safe from Saddam. In addition to all that I have stated above, the author has tells how the CIA during the 90's did not help the author escape from Iraq and just sat on their hands. The escape from Iraq by the author is just one of many great parts in the book. Overall, the book is a great read and I would recommend to anyone interested in the former Iraqi regime, Saddam, or his never ending quest for nuclear weapons.
Rating:
Summary: A must read about the former Iraqi Regime
Review: This book will open the eyes of even those who think they know Saddam's regime. The book gives an incredible first hand account of what life was like under Saddam for a high rank offical, which the author is. The author was a man who worked on (and later headed) the Iraqi nuclear program, and goes into how Saddam sought for decades anything that would help the nuclear program along. Dr. Hamzah also shows the complete lack of interest the IAEA had in Iraq's nuclear program. He also shows how France, who Saddam bought a nuclear reactor from, had no interest what so ever in why Saddam wanted a reactor. He shows that all the French were interested in was making money. However, Dr. Hamzah does not bore the reader with just talk about nuclear programs and highly complex nuclear science. He also tells the reader what living under Saddam was like and how NO one was safe from Saddam. In addition to all that I have stated above, the author has tells how the CIA during the 90's did not help the author escape from Iraq and just sat on their hands. The escape from Iraq by the author is just one of many great parts in the book. Overall, the book is a great read and I would recommend to anyone interested in the former Iraqi regime, Saddam, or his never ending quest for nuclear weapons.
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