Here is Jane Mayer’s long article on Chalabi from the New Yorker; and the articles from yesterday’s New York Times, and today’s. Of course, there is no way for me to know whether or not Chalabi passed cryptographic evidence to the Iranians. Obviously, if he did, that is very serious. Also, if he did, one would think that his source (everyone assumes that it would have to be someone in the Defense Department, but that’s not necessarily true) has to be found and brought to justice. Will it be possible to find him? Not necessarily. The person will not have left a paper trail, I am betting. Besides, there are other possibilities here...It is true that all this gets Chalabi out of our hair (at least temporarily, while the transition is going on) in Iraq. It is useful, I am thinking, for our purposes that he has lost some credibility among the Iraqi leaders. Indeed, I wouldn’t be surprised that some of the now public new Iraqi leadership has been halpful to us in making this public. I once said to a fellow, an especially smart and interesting fellow, that I liked reading spy novels. He said he did not because they were always less interesting than real spy stories. I see what he means. This is complicated and intricate, Iraqi, sorry, Byzantine.