Operation Curveball

Bioweapons expert Dr. Arndt Wolf of the German Federal Intelligence Service (BND) is obsessed with the idea that, despite UN inspections, anthrax is still being produced in Iraq. Back home in Germany, Wolf’s superior Schatz assigns him as case officer for the Iraqi asylum seeker Rafid Alwan because Alwan claims to have worked as an engineer for Saddam Hussein’s secret bioweapons program. This is a rare triumph for a secret service badly in need of a win: finally, they have a piece of intelligence that would put them one step ahead of the CIA. What they are missing, though, is proof, the search for which proves difficult, as Alwan (the man they call “Curveball”) is well aware of his value to the agency. His claims end up serving a number of different interests, including the CIA, and the German government, as everyone tries to use his story for their own purposes.