Last night’s 60 Minutes told the story of Curve Ball, the Iraqi defector whose alleged evidence regarding an Iraqi biological and chemical weapons program served, in the end, as one of the primary justifications for the Iraq War.
Principally, the “evidence” that Curve Ball provided to his German controllers, which was never independently verified by the United States was used by Colin Powell in his memorable February 3, 2005 speech to the United Nations Security Council in what most saw as the most persuasive argument for war.
Or so it seemed at the time. Curve Ball, it turns out, was a liar, and the United States did nothing to verify the truth of his story even when the opportunity presented itself. For example, At one point in the story, reporter Bob Simon mentions the IAEA inspectors who visited the alleged bio-weapons factory that Curve Ball had identified, only to find that his story didn’t pass muster. And yet he was still treated as a credible source. And I think the reason for that is clear — the United States wanted to believe him, so it just ignored the evidence to the contrary.
As a result, American history, and the history of the Middle East, were changed irrevocably. All because of a lie.
If you missed it, here is the two part story of Curve Ball.
Part One:
Part Two:
