Iraqi defector Rafid Ahmed Alwan al-Janabi, aka Curveball, admitted in interviews on February 15, 2011, that he fabricated information about Saddam’s biological weapons programs. ” ‘I had the chance to fabricate something to topple the regime… I and my sons are proud of that, and we are proud that we were the reason to give Iraq the margin of democracy. …[Secretary of State] Colin Powell didn’t say I was the only reason for this war,’ he said. ‘He talked about three things. First of all, uranium; secondly, al-Qaida; and thirdly, my story. I don’t know why the other sources, for the uranium and al-Qaida, remained hidden and my name got out. I accept it, though, because I did something for my country and for me that was enough.’ ”
– Martin Chulov and Helen Pidd, “Curveball: How US was Duped by Iraqi Fantasist Looking to Topple Saddam,” The Guardian, Feb. 15, 2011