Part 1 of 7

In an industry where fractions of a millimeter matter — these guys were playing horseshoes with centrifuge physics.

Out of 31 tubes in subsequent testing, only one was successfully spun to 90,000 RPM for 65 minutes — which the C.I.A. seized on as evidence in their favor. . . . D.O.E’s standard is to spin a tube at 20% above 90,000 RPM before failure — so 48,000 short is a pretty loose definition of “rough indication.”

When’s the last time you saw detail like that on this fiasco for the ages?

Who are “these guys”? Who are the “most experts” Powell was referring to in his UN speech? That’s the untold story I told 8 years ago when I wrote and produced the exhaustive documentary ever done on Iraq WMD. I had 50 pages on that issue in my unfinished book before I wrote one word of that script. And yet when I went to interview a world-renowned nuclear scientist for my research, my journey had just begun.

My writing revolves around how people allow emotion to run roughshod over reason when their interests are at stake. When I returned from interviewing Dr. Houston Wood, the aftermath of the Zimmerman verdict gave me a golden opportunity to illustrate exactly that. Debunking the WMD delusion & Trayvon tale is a conduit for showing how this nation systematically derails debate.

I needed a way to illustrate irrational behavior without showing any favoritism  — and now I had it.

I don’t have situational rules

I put the truth above all else. If at times the truth helps your interests and hurts mine, I’ll still stand by it. I love moments of truth and measurement that put those principles to the test. One of my favorites is the Florida election fiasco of 2000. I just wanted the right thing to be done — whether it served my interests or not was irrelevant.

I learned early on in life that what you want gets in the way of what you see. There’s a whole other story behind that line – but the same commitment to accuracy and integrity on that deal, drove the doc and everything else I do. I’m a programmer by profession. I’d never done any journalism before interviewing Dr. Wood, but I was striving for the best of what it’s supposed to be.

My Prime Directive: No leading questions. And if this man wants to talk — scrap the script and keep my mouth shut. Because of that — I obtained information that nobody else did. I wasn’t trying to tell a story that served me — I was trying to tell the story.

And I’m the only one who told it in full.