Curveball

While this is a baseball term, this post has nothing to do with baseball. Just moments ago, 60 Minutes ran a great story by Bob Simon about the man given the codename "Curveball" by the Germans.

The man known within the highest levels of the administration as "Curveball" was the source for the war as we know it and the source that gave rise to false claims about mobile labs of WMD in Iraq. Turns out the man was a sham, whom top US intelligence officials never interviewed or knew the real name of when they bought his scheme for the war.

"Curveball" was held in Germany captivity as a top secret source during the run-up to the war. After being outed as a complete fraud, and found to have lied to German officials simply to avoid being deported, where is "Curveball" now?

He's a free man within Germany it seems, while given a new name, a new identity. He got what he wanted, to stay in Germany, and he helped give credence to bogus WMD claims. Brilliant.