Product Description
The world has entered a second nuclear age. For the first time since the end of the Cold War, the threat of nuclear annihilation is on the rise. Should such an assault occur, there is a strong likelihood that the trail of devastation will lead back to Abdul Qadeer Khan, the Pakistani father of the Islamic bomb and the mastermind behind a vast clandestine enterprise that has sold nuclear secrets to
Journalists Douglas Frantz and Catherine Collins tell this alarming tale of international intrigue through the eyes of the European and American officials who suspected Khan, tracked him, and ultimately shut him down, but only after the nuclear genie was long out of the bottle.
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While the book does justice to some facts, I think it is merely a title and not a fact that the scientist was driven by a jihdaist agenda. Yet another US wanna-be-expert on nuclear-jihad and international terrorism (shooting from the hip approach). I have heard that those who were close to the circles of Dr. Khan and the Pak Army believe he was spending lavishly and also giving money away for various projects (yes, including mosques and religious studies; but that does not mean labeling him as a jihadist will sell the story). He wanted to be and treated like a ROCK STAR! There is some opinion out there that he may have tried selling the technologu becuase he felt that it was his place to do so! But the very same people are quick to point out that it was the MONEY and the ROCK STAR status Dr. Khan was more interested in and not what the author in the book claims. If you want facts and not some sensational journalism, please DO read but keep in mind that this is another “IRAQ has WMD” kind of attempt at sensationalizing the story and scaring you rather than informing you objectively! North Korea, and Libya may have been approached but we all know neither of these countries have a jihadist agenda. They just wanted to be in the same nuclear club and do deter an attack. I feel that the US (political blunders aside; iraq war) has done a great job of keeping an eye on them as well as Iran and it was in fact the US that broke the news to Musharraf.
Rating: 1 / 5
Well Frantz wrote a good fairy tale, its a fact that if Khan opens his mouth then many in US and Uk admns would loose their nights sleep. Its liek putting everything in Khans kitty,making him a scape goat! true story? like u think its truth? and Jihadist? lol, it makes me laugh. Who has gotten the nukes via valid ways? even USA had the german design stolen! and subsequently using it on hisroshima nagasaki! who else has used a nuke? would Frantz write that true story? no!
Its a fashion now to use the word Jihadist without knowing the words significance. The books title is a farce,he was a nationalist,born in india from where he migrated!and vowed that he will teach hindus a lesson! He is no means a religious man,he married a dutch women,and she still is his wife!he voulnteered to build a bomb for pakistan after Indians made a bomb in 1974 “the smiling bhudda” So was pakistans amitions of gettin a bomb were wrong? considering usa-ussr arms race? now putting or calling it a jihadist agenda is totally absurd,considering pakistan had lost bangladesh in awar with india and needed a deterence because the world was mute about kashmir since 1947! and still is which drives the arms race,so after losing bangladesh (compare that to a pearl harbor) if pakistan went to a nuke bomb (compare it with using on poor japs) whats wrong? now the way he did it are all fairy tales.they just know one man and thats Khan like osama out everything on them like they were the world supreme men who did all the way they wanted it and no one saw them nor stopped them. Tell me a single nuclear state who is responsible? or u think is resonsible. tommorow if someone from iran wud say they bought it from USA then wud u believe it? ofcourse not ull say its a bluff,for me this books a bluff! U dont know what was going on in subcontinent that time!the mentality was to save pakistan from a hostile india by hook or by crook,just like america jumped into the war after being attacked.
He did it for his nation for which he migrated! He is a hero in pakistan (80-90%) of which is moderate.but when it comes to india,like the americans,they hate them like usa hates iranians!
The story that he sold it to Libya and Iran both considered hostile to USA/Iran is another topic!
I wish if Frantz would write anything about another nuclear state called Israel! the Diona plant! which no one talks about!but when it comes to islamic nations everyone becomes paranoid!wonder why! For israel its nuclear ambiguity but for Khan its a true story! ill call it true hipocrisy!
Rating: 2 / 5
“The Man From Pakistan’s” thrilling high points intersect in 2003; the CIA’s diversion of a nuclear equipment-ladened vessel bound for Libya, Qaddifi’s conversion from a nuclear wanna be to someone who relinquishes the makings of his arsenal because he fears George W. Bush, and, soon afterwards, when Musharraf tells CIA Director Tenet in a personal meeting “Thank you, George, I will take care,” of the evil AQ Khan and his network. By this point, it is clear – facts are facts – achieving these breakthroughs were the result of American and British spy craft and derring do and their calculated disregard for the feckless IAEA. Frantz and Collins, after finishing off A Q Khan and his maniacal reign as a Pakistan’s master of nuclear bomb, spin the IAEA and its NBA loving Mohamed ElBaradei, as the potent and effective forces in the nuclear disarmament game. To do this, Frantz and Collins damn the Bush Administration and John Bolton as bullies and roughnecks forgetting the implications of the achievements mentioned above. After ranting on with the questionable relevancy of the Valerie Plame incident and the bizarre national security case of one Richard Barlow, this husband and wife team of journalists fume that “Bush sacrificed the opportunity of uprooting Khan’s network to maintain the support
of the Musharraf regime in the fight against Al Qaeda.” Offering no support for this assertion, they fault the Bush administration for engaging in unilateralism to deal Iran’s drive for nuclear weapons. The “P5 plus 1” plan does not merit a mention. They describe that in 2004, the IAEA staff “scrubbed” the language of a report on Iran’s nuclear program, toning it down to make it acceptable to the Iranians. Frantz and Collins criticize Bolton’s push for tougher language and demanding the IAEA “had an obligation to declare Iran’s lies about its nuclear program.” Noting El Baradei as “the consummate diplomat,” he got the consensus he needed on the IAEA board which included South Africa, Venezuela and Egypt and Malaysia and Iran was not at that time referred to the UN Security Council. The authors then laud the IAEA as “the best hope” for enforcing non proliferation treaties requiring “more cooperation from its member states.” Seriously, one does not make this stuff up. Cause and effect in events of this magnitude disappear for these authors. One wonders do they read what they write. Frantz and Collins use their interesting story about AQ Khan as a platform to critique the Bush Administration and endorse the IAEA. For these reasons, the book loses its credibility as an unbiased account of AQ Khan and his aftermath.
Rating: 2 / 5
Gripping but bias…
The Man From Pakistan is the story of Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of the “Islamic Bomb.” I found this tale very disturbing and frightening. We allowed this monster to steal secrets and sell them to the highest bidder.
The Man From Pakistan is well written and an interesting read, but the liberal and anti-Iraqi war view of the authors is evident throughout this book. Douglas Frantz and Catherine Collins took every opportunity to place blame on Bush and Cheney, while not considering the role Clinton played in North Korea. Despite the bias, Americans need to read this book. We cannot afford to bury our head in the sand. We need to be informed citizens.
Rating: 4 / 5
The underlying story of A.Q. Khan and his life story from unimportant scientist in Europe to organizer of the Pakistan nuclear bomb projects to international trader in nuclear secrets is well researched and exceptionally interesting. It is a book of some importance.
However, the book goes over the top in its allocation of bad press to Republican administrations between Eisenhower and Geroge W. Bush. Recognizing lots of mistakes by all sides and a realistic level of understanding of the reality of impotence by the United States would have made for a better presentation. (The book virtually ignores all of the years where a Democrat was in the White House and blames virtually all events in the Republican years.)
A Republican or independent will need to hold his or her nose to get through the book. That being said, it is a very interesting book.
Rating: 3 / 5