Geekery meets the Iraq debacle

So it's become clear that Chalabi was, at least in part, working for the Iranians. This has led to some speculation that perhaps Iranian manipulation contributed to Bush's Gulf War II. The Guardian tells us that Some intelligence officials now believe that Iran used the hawks in the Pentagon and the White House to get rid of a hostile neighbour, and pave the way for a Shia-ruled Iraq.

This would be an incredible (in every sense of that word) feat on the part of the Iranians. I thought this "plans within plans" stuff could only be found in Dune books and White Wolf games. Who knew it could happen in real life--to America, superpower extraordinaire, no less.

So if this speculation be true, then kudos to the Iranian officials who masterminded it. I mean, sure, it was wrong it all, but that it was also a magnificent feat of intrigue is undeniable.

Shortly after the news broke, some guy on the internet drew my attention to the fact that this reads a little like an episode of Star Trek (TNG). The episode in question is "Conundrum".

At the beginning of the episode, everyone on the Enterprise has their memory wiped, and an alien pretending to be a human named "Keiran MacDuff" (Chalabi) sneaks on board. Using false computer records (intelligence), MacDuff establishes himself in a place of influence and on the bridge (White House), and convinces the crew of the Enterprise that an alien race called the Lysians (Iraq) are a deadly enemy of the Federation (America and assorted freedom-loving countries). And so the Enterprise heads out to destroy Lysian central command (Baghdad). On the way they engage the Lysians, and are disturbed to discover that Lysian ships (the Iraqi military) are no match whatsoever for the Enterprise (the American military). MacDuff attempts to soothe their worries by claiming that despite their generally inferior military capabilities, the Lysians are nonetheless in control of a powerful weapon (WMDs) that can bypass the defensive capabilities of the Enterprise.

The parallels are impressive. But there is one major difference. Unlike Dubya, by the end of the episode the crew of the Enterprise is able to figure out that this race with an utterly pathetic military could not possibly be the Federation's true enemy. And they were able to do so without the benefit of their memories, while Dubya & Co. have suffered no memory loss--unless you count their grossly distorted view (or outright ignorance) of history.

It's too bad that the people in the White House aren't as smart as Picard. Or even Riker, for that matter. Hell, even Worf figured it out by the end.