Ahmed Chalabi died Tuesday, at his home in Baghdad, without many honors. He had egged on the U.S. invasion in 2003 by circulating stories of Saddam’s nuclear facilities, wanting to be president of his old country. But when none were found, he became infamous in his new one instead.

It is jarring for veterans of the Bush wars that nobody really remembers Chalabi, especially young people. They don’t remember Hans Blix, Don Rumsfeld, Chemical Ali or the Hussein boys. They remember Iraq, sort of, as a byword of disaster, but not the world-famous marquee from a decade ago.