A Job For Ramanna

He had already secretly spent millions on his bomb project and had precious little to show for it. And yet here was starving India, an inferior third world country that had dragged its bomb to the test site on the back of an ox cart, banging on the doors of the exclusive nuclear club…

Because Saddam wanted the bomb and because India had succeeded in building and testing one, Saddam swallowed his contempt for the Indians and took a personal interest in the career of their chief nuclear physicist, Raja Ramanna. Four years after seeing the Reuters report, Saddam invited Ramanna to visit Iraq as his personal guest.

The Indian scientist spent just under a week in the Iraqi capital, touring Tuwaitha and meeting dozens of his Iraqi contemporaries. At the end of his visit, Saddam invited him to his office.

‘‘You have done enough for your country,’’ he told the bemused Ramanna. ‘‘Don’t go back. Stay here and take over our nuclear programme. I will pay you whatever you want.’’ Saddam reached over to the tall, broad-shouldered physicist and said, ‘‘I expect you to honour this offer.”

Ramanna stayed awake all that night, fearful Saddam would prevent him from catching his flight home. He never went back to Iraq.