Chalabi: Friend and Ally Now an Evil Doer
By S. Rowan Wolf, Uncommon Thought Journal
Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Richard Perle, and Paul Wolfowitz pushed Ahmed Chalabi as their next friendly sovereign of Iraq. Of course they didn't say that outright, but it was clear that was the plan when they landed him in Iraq with his hand picked "starter army." Remember the pictures. But before that there was a long battle with Powell and Tony Blair who detested Chalabi. He was characterized as:
"For years, the State Department and the CIA have viewed him as an abrasive egotist who is in thrall to neo-conservative hawks. Mr Powell, like Mr Blair, wants a tribal or religious leader to come forward in Iraq."
...
"Donald Rumsfeld, the US defence secretary, Vice-President Dick Cheney and Paul Wolfowitz, Mr Rumsfeld's deputy, are among Mr Chalabi's most powerful backers. The Pentagon, which is overseeing post-war planning, wanted to install him as interim leader as soon as it was safe." 11/04/03 Harnden, Telegraph/UK, Battle to prevent Chalabi taking power
Chalabi was a crook, to be blunt. He was convicted of embezzlement in 1989 in Jordan after the collapse of Petra Bank, which he had founded (Harnden, 11/04/03) . In fact, he could not go to Jordan without being arrested. Currently he is suspected in the UN oil-for-food fiasco (Swibel, Chalabi Raid Complicates Oil-For-Food Probe, 5/20/04). But a little thing like crooked business deals are no big deal for the Bush team.
Chalabi is the head of the Iraq National Committee (INC), and was selected by the US to sit on the Governing Council. He provided (bogus) information which the Bush neocons wanted to hear, and was on a hefty commission. It is estimated that the INC got $33 million from the US, and Chalabi was being paid roughly $300,000 a month (Stakeout After Classified Senate Operations and Intelligence Committee Brief - transcript, DoD 5/20/04). However, Rumsfeld implied in his testimony to a Senate Committee that these payments have been going on a long time:
SEN. WARNER: Question from over here. Question – right here.
Q: Why was Chalabi getting paid some $300,000 plus by the U.S… [Inaudible]?
SEC. RUMSFELD: There have been a number of entities in Iraq that had been – being paid money by the United States over a period of years. The Congress passed the – I think it was called the Iraqi Liberation Act back in the late 1970s -- but both houses of the Congress, signed by President Clinton -- and it provided funds for that purpose. Stakeout After Classified Senate Operations and Intelligence Committee Brief - transcript
Gosh, that's news! I didn't know that Clinton was President in the 1970s. Perhaps, it was a slip of the tongue since everything from 9/11 onward was Clinton's fault you know.
Suddenly, this fair haired "hero" is off the feed line, and his house is raided. Purportedly by an Iraqi-led raid based on Iraqi intelligence (Coalition Provisional Authority Briefing transcript, DoD 5/20/04). One has to wonder about this since the Iraqi police and intelligence services are working under the authority and direction of the US at this point. And ... I thought that "intelligence" is what Chalabi and the INC were being paid for.
Fox News is reporting suspicions that Chalabi was possibly a spy for Iran (5/20/04), though working with Iran covertly wouldn't be something new and different.
Of course there is that other "little" issue of the trial of Saddam Hussein. Chalabi's nephew was named as the "Director General" of the court ( Iraq's Saddam Tribunal Set Up, KATC, 4/20/04).
Hmm. How far might Chalabi's influence spread in the new Iraq? With $33 million, and imported army, more than a year of US direct support and assistance, and at least $335,000 a month, he might be a force to be reckoned with.
The timing seems odd. Is this just "one more error" on the part of the neocon puppet masters playing Bush? Or is this going to turn into a scapegoat situation? "Curveball" who provided plenty of false information to the Administration to implicate Hussein and paint him as an "imminent threat" was tied to Chalabi. Information from Chalabi himself was certainly well off course (and self serving?). Can the Bush Whitehouse claim that they trusted this man and he is the cause of the woes of Iraq? Or is he an offering to whatever new power broker is emerging in Iraq? Time will tell I guess.
For Your Enlightenment
Disinfopedia, Ahmed Chalabi
10/20/03 Hersh, New Yorker, THE STOVEPIPE
11/18/02 Dreyfus, TAP, Tinker, Banker, NeoCon, Spy - Ahmed Chalabi's long and winding road from (and to?) Baghdad
5/20/04 Allam & Moran, KC Star, Chalabi cuts coalition ties after home raid
5/20/04 FoxNews, CIA: Chalabi Possibly Spied for Iran
5/20/04 Swibel, Forbes, Chalabi Raid Complicates Oil-For-Food Probe
5/21/04 China View, Chalabi's INC received at least $33 million -report
5/20/04 Payvand's Iran News, U.S. Ends Payments To Chalabi's Iraqi National Congress
5/20/04 US DoD, Stakeout After Classified Senate Operations and Intelligence Committee Brief - transcript
5/20/04 US DoD, Coalition Provisional Authority Briefing transcript
4/20/04 KATC, Iraq's Saddam Tribunal Set Up
5/05/04 Achcar, CounterPunch, Self-Deception and Selective Expertise - Bush's Cakewalk into the Iraq Quagmire
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