Faulty Intel Source "Curve Ball" Revealed

[sabra]

Source: 60 Minutes

60 Minutes: Iraqi's Fabricated Story Of Biological Weapons Drove U.S. Arguments For Invading Iraq

(CBS) 60 Minutes has identified the man whose fabricated story of Iraqi biological weapons drove the U.S. argument for invading Iraq. It has also obtained video of "Curve Ball," as he was known in intelligence circles, and discovered he was not only a liar, but also a thief and a poor student instead of the chemical engineering whiz he claimed to be.

60 Minutes correspondent Bob Simon's two-year investigation will be broadcast this Sunday, Nov. 4, at 7 p.m. ET/PT.

Curve Ball is an Iraqi defector named Rafid Ahmed Alwan, who arrived at a German refugee center in 1999. To bolster his asylum case and increase his importance, he told officials he was a star chemical engineer who had been in charge of a facility at Djerf al Nadaf that was making mobile biological weapons.

60 Minutes has learned that Alwan’s university records indicate he did study chemical engineering but earned nearly all low marks, mostly 50s. Simon’s investigation also uncovered an arrest warrant for theft from the Babel television production company in Baghdad where he once worked.

...

More than a hundred summaries of his debriefings were sent to the CIA, which then became a pillar - along with the now-disproved Iraqi quest for uranium for nuclear weapons - for the U.S. decision to bomb and then invade Iraq. The CIA-director George Tenet gave Alwan’s information to Secretary of State Colin Powell to use at the U.N. in his speech justifying military action against Iraq.

Tenet gave the information to Powell despite a letter - a copy of which 60 Minutes obtained - addressed to him by the head of German intelligence stating that Alwan appeared to be believable, but there was no evidence to verify his story.



Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/11/01/60minutes/main3440577.shtml

[Eugene]

1. Kick for the morning...

and recommend!

[lligrd]

2. Glad To See It Make The MSM But...

"60 minutes has identified the man," give me a break. This is not news except for the fact that it made the MSM.

[Kahuna]

3. Timely reporting, eh?

Unbelievable.

[krkaufman]

4. Not to mention that we also used false, torture-derived "evidence" ...

... to bolster the case for invading.

War. Criminals.

[Barrett808]

5. Secret source of phony Iraq intel outed ("Curveball")

Source: Associated Press

WASHINGTON - The Iraqi defector code-named "Curveball," whose false tales of biological weapons labs bolstered the U.S. case for war, wasn't the prominent chemical engineer he claimed to be and invented stories to help his case for asylum in Germany, a new report says.

"Curveball" is Rafid Ahmed Alwan, who did study chemical engineering but made poor grades and never managed a biological weapons facility, according to CBS' "60 Minutes," which will broadcast on Sunday a report describing how Alwan became a secret intelligence source.

Although known publicly only by his code name, Curveball has been repeatedly discredited by investigations of the United States' faulty prewar intelligence and became an embarrassment to U.S. spy agencies. A presidential intelligence commission found that Curveball, who mostly told his stories to German intelligence officials who passed them on to the U.S., was a fabricator and an alcoholic.

"60 Minutes" reports that Alwan arrived at a German refugee center in 1999 and began spinning his tales of a facility making mobile biological weapons in an effort to gain asylum. The ploy apparently achieved his goal, and Alwan is assumed to be living in Germany today under an assumed name.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071102/ap_on_go_ot/us_iraq_curveball

[Warpy]

6. Sensible people with any sort of background

in chemistry could have busted this guy within 10 minutes.

We know rank and file Republics suffer from extreme stupidity. I guess that stupidity really does go all the way to the top.

Greed and amorality don't add up to intelligence. It's high time we started to point that out to people. Our opponents are paper tigers, always have been and always will be.

[gratuitous]

7. If the administration was interested in "busting" Curveball

They would have debunked him, as you say, in 10 minutes. But they were far more interested in fabricating a pretext for invasion, so Curveball was very carefully protected from any outside scrutiny until his purpose had been fulfilled.

[aquart]

9. Bingo.

[lumpy]

10. It has been made more than clear that this administration lied,

connived and convoluted to attain their goal of invading Iraq. I urge everyone to watch The World According to Bush UTube video on political videos DUboard.

[DeepModem Mom]

8. K&R

[daleo]

11. He was the Curveball, but Bush threw the pitch.

The media was the blind umpire.

[Amonester]

13. The media sold-out long before the game started. - eom

[daleo]

14. Yep, the game was rigged. n/t

[sutz12]

12. AFAIC, this only proves the incompetence/evil intent of the admin.

:shrug: