Hubris Tracks Origins of the Iraq War

The Iraq war remains a controversial subject, with both sides constantly engaged in heated debate. Regardless of how one feels, however, it's intriguing to discover the war's origins, and how the Bush administration found its now-debunked information about weapons of mass destruction. Two reporters, Michael Isikoff (of Newsweek) and David Corn (of The Nation) detail such information in "Hubris", a book that goes into exhaustive detail about the war, "Curveball", Valerie Plame, and other figures who come into play during the planning and execution of the war.

The books begins with the creation of Anabasis, a covert operation to overthrow Saddam Hussein by bribing officials close to him. Anabasis officer John Maguire saw the Iraqi army in 2002, and when he saw that they were disorganized, he felt American forces would be greeted as liberators. In the same year, Colin Powell visited Iraq and concluded that Saddam's weapons program wasn't capable of producing weapons of mass destruction (or WMDs), and that the Iraqi regime was "weak" and "contained". This was a result of Operation Desert Storm in the 1990's, a war fought during George H.W. Bush.

Later, when the Bush administration citied Iraqi's search for aluminum tubes as proof that they were developing WMDs, the CIA seized shipment from Asia to Iraq, and Valerie Wilson/Plame, who was investigating WMDs, went to Jordan to inspect the tubes. It was later concluded that the tubes weren't fit for developing nuclear weapons, as they were too thick and long for such use.

"Hubris" also details the biography of Ahmad Chalabi, who, in 1995, was given money by the CIA to stage a coup in Iraq. When the CIA returned to see what had developed, they discovered that Chalabi had spent the CIA's money to purchase luxury cars rather than soldiers, and he had purchased homes rather than operating newspapers and radio stations as promised. Chalabi was also the head of the Iraqi National Congress (INC), a group who was in charge of overthrowing Saddam. As a leader of the INC, Chalabi fed the U.S. goverment with propaganda about Saddam's WMD program.

The book also goes into detail about Valerie Plame, and the story that led up to her outing as a CIA operative, and her husband Joseph Wilson. Since Joseph Wilson is an expert on African uranium, he was brought in for consultation when the U.S. government was investigating a claim that Niger was planning to purchase uranium. Wilson's later criticism of the Bush administration and the Iraq war is rumored to be the reason for outing his wife's spy classification.

"Curveball", the Iraqi defector held by German officials who was responsible for claiming that Saddam had mobile weapons labs is also described in "Hubris". Isikoff and Corn point out that Curveball never was directly interviewed by U.S. officials, and that he spoke to the Germans in Arabic, and his information was translated into German, then into English.

"Hubris" goes into so much detail, it can be dizzying. Still, it's a fascinating read, and essential to anyone who wants to know what began the war, what information was used and given to U.S. intelligence, and the outcomes of all who were involved. "Hubris" is an unforgettable book about a controversial war, and an inside look at the inner workings of Iraq and the Bush administration.