Could one man’s shameless inventions really have triggered the invasion of Iraq?The death of Ahmed Chalabi is a moment to consider the remarkable man theory of history. He was not a remarkable man,and certainly not a suitable one; he was an adventurer of astonishing energy and chutzpah. But he may have changed the course of history and had he not existed his life and unique career would have seemed ridiculously improbable.
We tend to think of history as the product of impersonal forces and so to suppose a remarkable catastrophe like the invasion of Iraq must have had remarkable causes. But considered through the lens of Chalabi’s career, it seems more like a bitter farce out of Graham Greene. One man of unlimited ambition managed to recruit the most powerful army in the world to his private purposes. nearly in passing, and he wrecked both his own country and much of the wider Middle East.
Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com