Plot Twists

Like a transition from one of my stories, it seems that real life has taken an interesting turn.

It is now all over the news wires that Ahmed Chalabi has very likely given extraordinarily classified information to Iran. Information so classified, according to the article, that "only 'a handful' of senior officials know them."

I'm going to recount some facts, and then form a conclusion.

Fact: Chalabi was one of the key sources of information about WMDs in Iraq, and insisted to the Bush administration that al Quaeda was connected with Saddam. And, he also happened to be a supporter of Israel.

Fact: Soon after US forces entered Baghdad, Chalabi was flown in under the protection of several hundred soldiers, and soon became on of the architects of the Iraqi National Congress, and was responsibile for millions of US taxpayer dollars as he attempted to rebuild Iraq.

Fact: The State Department issued warnings about Chalabi. These warnings were ignored by the Pentagon, who believed Chalabi to be working in America's best interests. After all, he's an Arab that supports Israel. He can't be that bad, right?

Fact: On Monday, forces raided Chalabi's compound in Baghdad. Chalabi claimed that it was engineered by Baathist (Saddam's party) forces that had somehow infiltrated the US armed forces.

Fact: Today, CBS reported that Chalabi met with an Iranian intelligence officer and exchanged information, including the above-mentioned classified info.

Fact: Iran had no love for Iraq. Iran is a theocracy. Iraq was a secular government, run by a military dictator. In fact, Iran and Iraq openly fought a war twenty years ago - a war in which the US supported Saddam.

Conclusion: What if Chalabi had been working for Iran all along? What if everything, from the faulty intelligence about WMDs and al Quaeda passed to the United States, to the taxpayer dollars he's been responsible for, to the US secrets he's passed to Iran, was part of a scheme to rid Iran of its enemy?

What if the entire Iraq war was a way to play the United States as a patsy, to get us to do what the Ayatollah could not? And the Bush administration, wanting so very hard to believe, fell for it hook, line, and sinker?

Not only would it mean an even more wretched waste of American life than a war motivated simply by oil and profit, this scenario has just moved from outrageous conspiracy theory to distinct possiblity.