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[ahmad] chalabi's séances swayed the political set, the intelligence set and the journalistic set. in an effect senator bob graham dubs "incestuous amplification," the bogus stories spewed by iraqi exiles and defectors ricocheted through an echo chamber of government and media, making it sound as if multiple, reliable sources were corroborating the same story. rather, one self-interested source was replicating like computer spam.
but even incestuous amplification could not have drowned out reality if bush officials had not glommed onto the chalabi flummery for their own reasons—to feed their fantasies about refashioning america's power, psyche and military, and making over the middle east in our image.
- maureen dowd, "the thief of baghdad," new york times february 15, 2004
posted February 16, 2004 in politics, print.