raz, this was not a surprise at the time. The CIA knew this guy was unreliable at the time. They also knew Chalabi had been convicted of bank fraud, was a consummate liar and probably also an Iranian double agent - as he was later proven to be.
That's why Rummy/Bushie/Cheney created the phony OSP in DoD to pump up, exaggerate, and channel these two liar's so-called "ingelligence".