Faulty Intel Source "Curve Ball" Revealed

(CBS)  Did Saddam Hussein have weapons of mass destruction? No, he did not. We've known that for some time now. So where did the intelligence come from that he was building up his arsenal? Fantastically, the most compelling part came from one obscure Iraqi defector who came in and out of history like a comet. His code name, ironically, was "Curve Ball" and his information became the pillar of the case Colin Powell made to the United Nations before the war. Who is Curve Ball and how did he fool the world's elite intelligence agencies?

60 Minutes spent two years, and traveled to nine countries, trying to solve the mystery. We talked to intelligence sources, to people who knew Curve Ball and to people who worked with him. As correspondent Bob Simon reports, Curve Ball's real name has never been made public, nor has any video of him, until now.

---

60 Minutes has obtained video of Rafid Ahmed Alwan at a 1993 Baghdad wedding, filmed six years before he became the key Iraqi source known as Curve Ball, six years before he helped launch the war.

Former CIA senior official Tyler Drumheller was an insider and watched Curve Ball emerge from nowhere.

Asked how important Curve Ball was in taking us to war in Iraq, Drumheller tells Simon, "If they had not had Curve Ball they would have probably found something else. 'Cause there was a great determination to do it. But going to war in Iraq, under the circumstances we did, Curve Ball was the absolutely essential case."

How did Rafid Alwan become Curve Ball? 60 Minutes' investigation led us to Germany, where in November 1999, Alwan arrived by car and requested asylum at a refugee center outside Nuremberg. The 32-year-old told German intelligence that he was a chemical engineer in Saddam's Iraq, and that he had done so well in university he had been made director of a site at Djerf al Nadaf, just outside Baghdad. The Iraqis called it a "seed purification plant." In reality, he said, the place was secretly making mobile biological weapons.

He told the Germans specially-equipped trucks made their way to one end of a warehouse, entered doors there, hooked up to hoses and pumps and brewed biological agents. The germ trucks then exited hidden doors on the other side.

Alwan's story fit what Western intelligence agencies feared: that Saddam might turn to mobile weapons to evade American bombs. The Germans hid Alwan in Nuremberg, then later in the town of Erlangen. He was given a code name: Curve Ball. He was interrogated once a week, sometimes twice, for a year and a half. He told the Germans he didn't want to meet with Americans. Only summaries of his debriefings were transmitted to Washington. Still, there were enough details to convince analysts at the CIA.

"Curve Ball was the one piece of evidence where they could say, 'Look at this. If they have this capability, where they can transport biological weapons, anthrax, all these horrible weapons, they can attack our troops with them. They can give them to terrorist groups,'" Drumheller says.

One of Curve Ball's reports was especially alarming: proof that the agents were lethal, something Curve Ball claimed he had seen while working at Djerf al Nadaf.

"He said, 'In 1998, working around these tanks, there was even an accident and 12 people were killed.' And that got everybody's attention," Drumheller explains.

So much so that in February 2001, German and American experts met in Munich to discuss Curve Ball. The Americans revealed they had located Djerf al Nadaf on overhead imagery; 60 Minutes found it on Google Earth.

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• Next Page »

[The Die Hard]

I will bet you a space shuttle that "Curve Ball" was a rogue CIA plant, coached and installed by George Herbert Walker Bush''s deep network from his Iran-Contra treason days, just one of several put in place to fulfill his wet dream of "getting back" at Saddam for *** him on an oil deal. Remember, the plans for invading Iraq were already on Bush One''s desk back in 1992, when he was forced to give up his original plot for seizing Iraq''s oil fields when the traitor was trounced by President Clinton.

Too bad Clinton didn''t have the guts to have Herbert arrested and tried for his treason right then. It would have saved us a lot of grief and a lot of lives.

"Curveball" gave the bushdicks everything they wanted on a platinum platter. So now he''s living the good life, while hundreds of thousands of people have been murdered because of his lies -- and instead of prosecuting him, the bushdicks are probably still paying him off.

[The Die Hard]

I will bet you a space shuttle that "Curve Ball" was a rogue CIA plant, coached and installed by George Herbert Walker Bush''s deep network from his Iran-Contra treason days, just one of several put in place to fulfill his wet dream of "getting back" at Saddam for *** him on an oil deal. Remember, the plans for invading Iraq were already on Bush One''s desk back in 1992, when he was forced to give up his original plot for seizing Iraq''s oil fields when the traitor was trounced by President Clinton.

Too bad Clinton didn''t have the guts to have Herbert arrested and tried for his treason right then. It would have saved us a lot of grief and a lot of lives.

"Curveball" gave the bushdicks everything they wanted on a platinum platter. So now he''s living the good life, while hundreds of thousands of people have been murdered because of his lies -- and instead of prosecuting him, the bushdicks are probably still paying him off.

[salidagordy]

This article on "curve ball" seemed to be a one sided White House lame blame game. Seems very late to be making excuses - so, what is the White House up to or are they just trying to fool themselves. There also some very publicly know facts that they got wrong. I would like to see George Tenant, his old key staff and Valerie Wilson along with Collen Powell on 60 minutes to set the record straight.

[logicanada]

mrmazerati . . . anyone who thinks Bush didn''t plant this guy is nuts.

[The Die Hard]

I will bet you a space shuttle that "Curve Ball" was a rogue CIA plant, coached and installed by George Herbert Walker Bush''s deep network from his Iran-Contra treason days, just one of several put in place to fulfill his wet dream of "getting back" at Saddam for *** him on an oil deal. Remember, the plans for invading Iraq were already on Bush One''s desk back in 1992, when he was forced to give up his original plot for seizing Iraq''s oil fields when the traitor was trounced by President Clinton.

Too bad Clinton didn''t have the guts to have Herbert arrested and tried for his treason right then. It would have saved us a lot of grief and a lot of lives.

"Curveball" gave the bushdicks everything they wanted on a platinum platter. So now he''s living the good life, while hundreds of thousands of people have been murdered because of his lies -- and instead of prosecuting him, the bushdicks are probably still paying him off.

[tea333]

Re the Curveball report:

1) Who is Central Group Chief, Margaret Henoch referring to when discussing that she was ignored? Why did that person%u2019s input take precedent, and not Margaret%u2019s? Who was involved?

2) How historically typical is it for one person to make a %u201Cslam dunk%u201D remark that the Executive claims as the sole reason for making the final call? (i.e., in relation to Kennedy%u2019s wisdom and pause during the missile crisis.) Given history, should we citizens have expected the Executive or Powell to have pressed further beyond Tenant%u2019s %u201Cslam dunk?%u201D

3) The report says Curveball appeared credible as presented by the CIA. But to whom, and why?

4) Is the ease with which evidence was accepted by the Executive historically typical or suspect?

5) The month following Powell%u2019s presentation, several concrete flaws were reported to the Executive regarding Curveball%u2019s story. Why did it not change anything? Why were the inspectors%u2019 findings ignored? This was well after %u201Cslam dunk,%u201D so why did we still go to war? Who knew what when?

This report is not just about Curveball. It%u2019s ultimately another report about the events leading to war. I would consider the above questions connected to accountability higher priority than Curveball%u2019s grades or work in cosmetics.

You often have reports that are important for Americans to consume. If you read this, thanks! If not, have a great week anyway.

[jbkaufmann]

Scapegoating is probably this nation''s number ONE sport, above all else. The simple fact remains that the Cheney-Bush administration was going to war in order to depose Saddam Hussein no matter what. It''s so easy to find cranks and crackpots to bolster any position. If the Far Right in this country had been told we''d be spending trillions to benefit Republican war profiteers in this disastrous misventure known as the "war on terror," based soley on some psychic''s encounter with the ghost of JonBenet Ramsey, they would still be cheerleading Cheney-Bush to this very moment. We need someone who understands that UBL is still alive; that Putin should not get away with launching a radiological nuclear attack against the West-- whether to kill one person or a million! No one in the media seems to care about some very dire issues we as a nation face today and tomorrow. Is it any wonder the leadership in Iran laughs at us in contempt? Whatever you can say about Saddam Hussein, it was his Iraq that was the bastion in that region against Persian expansionism. Does anyone recall the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s??? The Iranians laugh because their "Big Satan" got rid of their "Iraqi Satan" and it didn''t cost them one thin dime. "Dubya" Bush will go down in history as the real "butcher of Bagdadh." In the eyes of the world, we are indeed responsible for every drop of blood shed after March 18, 2003 in that country. The time has come to face some harsh reality.

[The Die Hard]

I will bet you a space shuttle that "Curve Ball" was a rogue CIA plant, coached and installed by George Herbert Walker Bush''s deep network from his Iran-Contra treason days, just one of several put in place to fulfill his wet dream of "getting back" at Saddam for *** him on an oil deal. Remember, the plans for invading Iraq were already on Bush One''s desk back in 1992, when he was forced to give up his original plot for seizing Iraq''s oil fields when the traitor was trounced by President Clinton.

Too bad Clinton didn''t have the guts to have Herbert arrested and tried for his treason right then. It would have saved us a lot of grief and a lot of lives.

"Curveball" gave the bushdicks everything they wanted on a platinum platter. So now he''s living the good life, while hundreds of thousands of people have been murdered because of his lies -- and instead of prosecuting him, the bushdicks are probably still paying him off.

[prinzowhales]

TheDieHard--Why would Billy want to arrest Bush?-- He was partnered with him in the Mena drug and money smuggling...He vacations with the Bushies...Barbara describes him as being like another son...Its the same reason that George43 let Clinton of the hook...The same reason Whitewater and stained blue dresses were investigated and the important crimes of the Clinton presidency were glossed over by the crooked lawyer who ran the investigations...Clinton could no more arrest "the Queen of May" than its son, George43 could arrest Billy Blythe.

[The Die Hard]

I will bet you a space shuttle that "Curve Ball" was a rogue CIA plant, coached and installed by George Herbert Walker Bush''s deep network from his Iran-Contra treason days, just one of several put in place to fulfill his wet dream of "getting back" at Saddam for *** him on an oil deal. Remember, the plans for invading Iraq were already on Bush One''s desk back in 1992, when he was forced to give up his original plot for seizing Iraq''s oil fields when the traitor was trounced by President Clinton.

Too bad Clinton didn''t have the guts to have Herbert arrested and tried for his treason right then. It would have saved us a lot of grief and a lot of lives.

"Curveball" gave the bushdicks everything they wanted on a platinum platter. Obviously he''s living the good life now, no doubt paid off handsomely with our tax dollars.