Will Howard is two quarters away from leading Ohio State to its first national championship in more than a decade. En route to that, though, the Buckeyes quarterback made some history of his own.

It has been tempting to view the C.I.A. as omniscient. Yet Coll’s chastening new book about the events leading up to the Iraq War, in 2003, shows just how often the agency was flying blind.

Will Howard could not be on any more of a roll than he is currently after winning the National Championship game with the Ohio State Buckeyes. The offense practically did everything it wanted to ...