American Views Abroad


Sunday, November 20, 2005
 
In one of the most bizarre stories to date on (mis) information about WMD and the lead up to the war in Iraq, read the lead article in today's LATimes -- How US Fell under the Spell of 'Curveball': The Iraqi informant's German handlers say they had told US officials that his info was 'not proven' and were shocked when President Bush and Colin Powell used it in key prewar speeches at www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-curveball20nov20,0,2053900,full.story?coll=la-home-headlines.

Basically in a nutshell, the motive of a Baghdad-born chemical engineer in exile was not to start a war, but to seek a German visa. Things were 'analyzed and translated and reanalyzed and retranslated and comments got added, it could have gotten sexed up by accident.'

.....'But the CIA and the White House overlooked the holes in the story'......

.....'Curveball's reports were highly valued in Washington because the CIA had no Iraqi spies with access to weapons programs at the time.....'

This could be slapstick comedy at its best, were the results not so tragic. It leaves you speechless.

Comments: Post a Comment


Disclaimer: American Views Abroad is not responsible for offsite content. All links in blog entires are external offsite links, unless otherwise indicated.