It was a plan, he set it up, initiated it and completed it, knowing the players involved and how it would fall out.

If that's true, it's possibly the first time in Iron Man history that one of Tony's plans worked the way it was supposed to. :-P

I think I kind of disagree with everyone in this thread, in that I don't think Fraction Tony ever had much of a plan beyond some basic bullet points. He wanted to destroy the database most of all, and that was the one thing where he took concrete steps. He wanted to bring Osborne down, but had no clear method for doing it. He probably hoped to come out of the whole mess alive, but given all the places where the whole thing could've broken down, I don't think it could've been his first priority. I think he was just throwing shit at the metaphorical wall to see what sticks.