Author(s): Bob Drogin

American

'Curveball' was the undercover code name given to the mysterious defector whose assertions set the Iraq War in motion. A desperate young Iraqi applying for political asylum in Munich, his first-hand 'evidence' on Saddam Hussein's chemical weapons programme would ultimately be a central plank of the Bush administration's justification in launching an invasion. Trouble was, virtually everything he told the intelligence services was a fabrication. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Bob Drogin, who broke the story to a shocked world, has written the definitive account of the most notorious intelligence fiasco in recent American history. Using his own research and exclusive new interviews, Drogin paints unforgettable portraits of figures both famous and secret, including Tyler Drumheller, Chief of CIA Covert Operations in Europe, who got his own sources from Saddam's inner circle to deny claims of WMDs - and was ignored by the White House; David Kay, the respected CIA consultant given the thankless task of confirming the story, only to have the President publicly misrepresent his findings and the CIA brand him a traitor for his blunt Senate testimony; and Curveball himself, a wily character who was as desperate to leave Iraq as foreign governments were eager to accuse it. Breathlessly paced, CURVEBALL is an irresistible story of international intrigue, honour and dishonesty among thieves and spies. It shows how, in an act of hubris not seen since Watergate, the arrogance and incompetence of a handful of men and women led to the US becoming embroiled in a catastrophic war - dragging the UK and Australia along for the ride.