Circles Within Circles....

Further to yesterday's story about the German BND (Intelligence Service) passing the Iraq defense plan to the U.S., David's Medienkritik has an interesting theory:

Either the German government knew about the cooperation between German and U.S. intelligence, in which case former chancellor Schroeder and foreign minister Fischer had lied to the public, or they didn't know it, which would reveal their complete cluelessness about what happened under their watch... Neither option makes them look statesmenlike.

As to the agent who provided the information about Saddam's strategy change, I have my own suspicion... Thank you, Susanne?

Following his link you'll see this at the end of the 27 January article from TCS Daily:

In light of the foregoing details, there is reason to wonder whether Osthoff’s burqa-wearing theatrics were not in fact a smokescreen put up to obscure links to Baathist circles and fellow-travelers. Evidence of what the German journalist and intelligence expert Erich Schmidt-Eenboom has recently described as “very good contacts” [partial translation here] between the German secret service, the BND, and the ousted Hussein regime makes this possibility all the more intriguing and troubling. It was the Osthoff case, and Osthoff’s admitted contacts with BND personnel, that first brought the current BND presence in Iraq to public attention.

Nice catch, David. And if we ever find out the whole story it could make one heck of a movie...