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& REVIEWS Tran and North Korea. The US, in its self- mass destruction. He joined UNSCOM in B oO oO K S declared role as the world's nuclear watch- 1994 as a principal investigator, and later q dog (its own vast arsenal aside), feared that worked as a senior adviser to Hans Blix in Reviewed by Ruth Parnell nuclear proliferation would lead to regional © UNMOVIC in the lead-up to the US-led SPYING ON THE BOMB: American arms races particularly in regions of conflict invasion of Iraq in March 2003. Following i j such as the Middle East and Asia. the invasion, he worked with the Iraq Surve; Nuclear Intelligence from Nazi Richelson includes never-before-published Group on the final assessment of the state of Germany to Iran and North Korea . : . spy photographs from the Archives of sus- Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. by Jeffrey T. Richelson pected and known nuclear facilities in Israel, As a former insider, he provides sober W. W. Norton, New York, 2006 Russia, China and France (including its insights into the politics of weapons inspec- ISBN 0-393-05383-0 (702pp he) nuclear test range at Mururoa in the South tion and into key players such as Scott Availability: http://www.wwnorton.com —_ Pacific). As the world is still living with the Ritter, Richard Butler, David Kelly, David Senior Fellow with the National nuclear threat, Richelson's Spying on the Kay, Hans Blix, the CIA's George Tenet and Security Archive in Washington, DC, Bomb won't be the last word. Iraq's "Dr Germ", among others. He makes Jeffrey Richelson has written a comprehen- a case against prisoner abuse in Iraq and sive history of US nuclear intelligence activ- THE WEAPONS DETECTIVE: describes the difficulties of resisting politi- ities from World War II to today with the The Inside Story of Australia's Top cal pressure from the CIA and MI6 after the uncertainties over Iran's and North Korea's Weapons Inspector Iraq invasion when the much-touted WMDs nuclear capabilities. by Rod Barton failed to materialise. Barton concludes that The Americans have been paranoid about Black Inc. Agenda, Melbourne, 2006 Australia may have gone to war on a lie, but nuclear security since the discovery of ISBN 0-9750769-5-7 (282pp tpb) the solution won't come by the Coalition suddenly withdrawing from Iraq. He slams the politicians and intelligence agents in this rivetting memoir of what really goes on behind the scenes before and after war. nuclear fission in 1939, and deployed scien- ‘ability: i tists with the invading Allied forces in 1944 AVallability: www.blackincbooks.com to learn nether Nazi Germany was re Rovenite intelligence officer, went pub- ing to make an atomic bomb. Soon after, lic last year with allegations that the they had concerns about the nuclear capabil-jinister for Defence had misled Parliament ities of the Soviet Union—contributing to over Australians being involved in interro- THE 2 the long Cold War—and then China. The gating Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison. : Kennedy administration in 1963 was even Privately, he heard such interrogations were WEAPONS considering a plan fora pre-emptive strike merely interviews. Barton has since DETECTIVE on China's fledgling nuclear facilities. expanded on his revelations in The Weapons Every time a nation was about to join the Detective. It charts highlights in his career to Tab Sor nuclear club, the US would extend its spying starting from the early 1980s when, with the network and actively discourage it. And the Joint Intelligence Organisation, he investi- more members, the more competition gated and put paid to claims that the Soviets between nations. Before long, the were supplying a "yellow rain" biowarfare Americans were monitoring the efforts of chemical to the Vietnamese. allies and foes alike. France, Israel, South Following the end of the first Gulf War, Africa, Taiwan, India and Pakistan were Barton joined the UN as a weapons inspec- under the spotlight, but more so were the tor, determining whether the Iraqis were still "rogue states" of recent times—Iraq, Libya, _ pursuing bioweapons and other weapons of Tran and North Korea. The US, in its self- declared role as the world's nuclear watch- dog (its own vast arsenal aside), feared that nuclear proliferation would lead to regional arms races particularly in regions of conflict such as the Middle East and Asia. Richelson includes never-before-published spy photographs from the Archives of sus- pected and known nuclear facilities in Israel, Russia, China and France (including its nuclear test range at Mururoa in the South Pacific). As the world is still living with the nuclear threat, Richelson's Spying on the Bomb won't be the last word. mass destruction. He joined UNSCOM in 1994 as a principal investigator, and later worked as a senior adviser to Hans Blix in UNMOVIC in the lead-up to the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003. Following the invasion, he worked with the Iraq Survey Group on the final assessment of the state of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. As a former insider, he provides sober insights into the politics of weapons inspec- tion and into key players such as Scott Ritter, Richard Butler, David Kelly, David Kay, Hans Blix, the CIA's George Tenet and Iraq's "Dr Germ", among others. He makes a case against prisoner abuse in Iraq and describes the difficulties of resisting politi- cal pressure from the CIA and MI6 after the Iraq invasion when the much-touted WMDs failed to materialise. Barton concludes that Australia may have gone to war on a lie, but the solution won't come by the Coalition suddenly withdrawing from Iraq. He slams the politicians and intelligence agents in this rivetting memoir of what really goes on behind the scenes before and after war. NEXUS = 67 AUGUST - SEPTEMBER 2006 www.nexusmagazine.com