Welcome to DouglasDeBono.Com, the Cyberspace Home of author Douglas De Bono. Mr. DeBono seamlessly blends history and fiction with the deft precision of a literary surgeon. His knowledge of special forces, intelligence agencies, political corruption and the tradecraft of espionage are unrivaled in the literary world. --Jim Clonts, Author Of MIG Drivers I was glued to my cozy chair during the entire story! I enjoyed the characters and found both the dialogue and the plot of this fantastic story a real edge of your seat kind of read from cover-to-cover! (A Highly Recommended Novel!) --Victoria Taylor Murray, Author Of Friendly Enemies/Le Fin

Saddam and the Bomb

In 1991, the Allied army led by the United States and Great Britain forcibly expelled Saddam Hussein’s army from Kuwait and dealt certain justice almost all the way to Baghdad. But a funny thing happened on the way to victory, the United States became concerned about nation building and its position in the Arab world. America did not want to appear to be the bully, even though; they were expelling one from Kuwait and protecting the Saudi oil fields.

Make no mistake, there was nothing standing between the American military and Baghdad save the sand and a lot of hot air.

So we entered an uneasy period of peace that routinely had American and British pilots bombing Iraqi anti-aircraft sites, enforcing southern and northern no-fly zones, and constantly wondering what evil mischief Saddam might be up to.

Few people remember the late Gerald Bull. By all accounts he was a brilliant physicist. His dream was a joint U.S./Canadian project called HARP (High Altitude Research Program). Bull believed he could build a super gun capable of launching projectiles a 1000 km (surface-to-surface) or rocket assisted projectiles into space. The United States pooh-poohed his ideas (much to their peril) and Gerald Bull ended up working for Saddam Hussein in 1981. He built 300, extremely effect 155mm howitzer artillery pieces for the Iraqis to be used against the Iranians during the Iraq/Iran war. He also worked on something called Project Babylon.

Project Babylon was the gun no one believed he could build. Baby Babylon was the prototype: 45 meters long with a bore measuring 350mm (by far the largest conventional cannon ever created). The Babylon gun was designed to be 156 meters long with a bore size of 1000mm. It would be capable of launching 650kg payload at any regional target in the Middle East. Considering Saddam’s penchant for weapons of mass destruction, the payloads might contain anything from Anthrax to radioactive waste to a fully developed nuclear weapon.

The MOSSAD assassinated Gerald Bull on March 22, 1990. Despite the fact that British customs seized finished components for the Bull’s super gun, American intelligence continued to discount the stories. That was until they found Baby Babylon in the Iraqi desert after the Gulf War.

So what does Gerald Bull have to do with today?

The Israelis have strenuously suggested Saddam might have developed a delivery system—an intercontinental delivery system for his Anthrax and plutonium weapons. Israel claims Saddam is no longer simply interested in hitting Tel Aviv or Jerusalem, but his aims have crossed the Atlantic and he is gunning for New York and Washington D.C.

Perhaps, we should listen this time.

This apocalyptic scenario is less than 9 months from completion, and America has a problem.

You see after the United States missed its chance to take out Saddam in 1991, it compounded its error by electing a draft dodger as President. For eight long years, the United States military suffered a procurement holiday and a terrible reduction in force. So we find ourselves in a desperate race to build enough bombs, outfit enough troops and secure American obligations elsewhere before Saddam can achieve a first strike intercontinental ballistic capability.

I really wish this was just another idea for one of my books; unfortunately, it is a very real and present danger. We dare not lose this race, because this time the death toll will be lot higher than 3000 at the WTC and the Pentagon.

Douglas De Bono / DouglasDeBono.Com Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota E-Mail readermail@DouglasDeBono.Com