‘Hero In Error’ Chalabi Makes Political Comeback To Lead Iraqi End Of Escalation Strategy
‘Hero In Error’ Chalabi Makes Political Comeback To Lead Iraqi End Of Escalation Strategy
The Wall Street Journal reports this morning that Ahmed Chalabi, the darling of neoconservatives in the lead-up to the Iraq war, has been given a prominent position to oversee the implementation of the escalation strategy on the Iraqi end:
In his latest remarkable political reincarnation, onetime U.S. favorite Ahmed Chalabi has secured a position inside the Iraqi government that could help determine whether the Bush administration’s new push to secure Baghdad succeeds. …
Chalabi will serve as an intermediary between Baghdad residents and the Iraqi and U.S. security forces mounting an aggressive counterinsurgency campaign across the city. The position is meant to help Iraqis arrange reimbursement for damage to their cars and homes caused by the security sweeps in the hope of maintaining public support for the strategy.
Chalabi, who once famously said of his Iraq involvement, “we are heroes in error,” has had a sordid history with the United States. A review of Chalabi’s nefarious activities:
PENTAGON FUNDED CHALABI TO PROVIDE RATIONALE FOR WAR: The Pentagon’s Defense Intelligence Agency paid the INC $335,000 a month in the lead-up to the Iraq war to gather intelligence. In all, the Bush White House has given the INC at least $39 million over the past 5 years. [IPS, 5/23/04; New Yorker, 6/7/04]
CHALABI’S IRAQI NATIONAL CONGRESS WAS MAJOR SOURCE OF DATA FOR PENTAGON OFFICE OF SPECIAL PLANS: According to a report in the New Yorker, analysts based in the Pentagon’s Office of Special Plans “relied on data gathered by other intelligence agencies and also on information provided by the Iraqi National Congress, or I.N.C., the exile group headed by Ahmad Chalabi.” [New Yorker, 5/12/03]
CHALABI WAS SOURCE FOR FALSE JUDY MILLER STORIES: Chalabi was the source for discredited news stories about Iraq and weapons of mass destruction which were penned by New York Times reporter Judith Miller. In 2001, Miller wrote a front-page story about claims that Saddam had twenty secret WMD sites hidden in Iraq. The information turned out to be bogus. [New York Times, 2/26/04; The New Yorker, 6/7/04]
CHALABI ACCUSED OF PASSING U.S. SECRETS TO IRAN: In June 2004, Chalabi came under investigation for allegations that he passed secret intelligence to Iran. Chalabi was accused of telling the Iranian government that the U.S. had broken the code it used for secret communications. [Washington Post, 6/3/04; WSJ, 11/7/05]
More here.
Commenting on Chalabi’s political resurgence, a senior American official told the WSJ: “The question is whether he is really doing this to help, or whether he’s trying to build himself a new political base in Baghdad or carry water for the Shiites. And we simply don’t know the answer to that yet.”
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36 Responses to “‘Hero In Error’ Chalabi Makes Political Comeback To Lead Iraqi End Of Escalation Strategy”
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What!?! Chalabi is now in charge of distributing largesse in compensation for our misdeeds. Whose bright idea was this. Any speculation on the ratio of funds disbursed to Iraqi citizens to that sent to numbered accounts in Switzerland and The Cayman Islands?
February 23rd, 2007 at 12:41 pmJayzus.
February 23rd, 2007 at 12:43 pmWhat ,another picture of an over fed little gangster for the reich winged bush bunch…..Geees….Blessings, we realy need them..
February 23rd, 2007 at 12:46 pmFinally, someone our regime can work with - a crook!!
I too wonder how much of that pallet cash made its way to Chalabi’s offshore accounts, not that anyone will ever know where the hell it went, but that’s how you fight a war, right guys?
February 23rd, 2007 at 12:46 pmIs it just me, or is it getting positively surreal these days?
8-()
February 23rd, 2007 at 12:50 pmWhy is he doing this? To profit from the last throes of the U.S. occupation. Once we leave, we’ll find him counting his money somewhere beyond the reach of the Iraqis he betrayed.
February 23rd, 2007 at 12:50 pmremember Chalabi sitting behind Laura Bush at the State of the Union a few years back and then Bush saying he’d never met him, but spoke with him on the phone once or twice? What a crock o shit this guy is. We, as in the taxpayers of America, set up Chalabi and his cronies in the INC in nice townhouses in DC and then payed them to lie to us.
February 23rd, 2007 at 12:52 pmAhmed Chalabi, who garnered 0.2% of the popular vote in the last Iraqi elections, has a hand in everything from the “sale” of Iraqi oil to the purchase of wheat from Australia…………
You just gotta love Democracy.
February 23rd, 2007 at 12:56 pmI don’t see what all the fuss is, this guy is perfect for the BushCo. adventure in Iraq. We shoulkd applaus their appropruate choice. I look forward to basking in the light of his stunning futurw successes…..Jesus, just when you think things couldn’t get worse.
February 23rd, 2007 at 1:06 pmOMFG.
This means he will be handling A LOT OF MONEY! He’s getting a nice payoff for providing false intelligence to bolster Bush’s case for going to war.
Does anybody besides me see another $10 billion or so going missing…..
February 23rd, 2007 at 1:07 pmWould someone please put him out of our misery?
February 23rd, 2007 at 1:14 pmIraq Labor vs. ExxonMobil, BP and Shell
According to British media, the U.S. and U.K. governments are on track to achieve a March victory in Iraq. This victory will not be publicized, nor will it mean an end to the occupation.
Written by Bush and Blair’s big oil business partners who serve as the leaders’ advisors on foreign policy, the new Iraq hydrocarbon law opens the door for international investors, led by BP, Exxon and Shell, to siphon off 75 percent of Iraq oil wealth for 30 years. This unique economic model is called a “Production Sharing Agreement.” But is a 75/25 split, with bloated oil companies taking 75 percent of the country’s wealth and leaving just 25 percent for the devastated Iraqis, a sharing agreement or armed robbery?
The overwhelming majority of Iraqis are opposed to the privatization of their oil, yet the government has denied that privatization is actually taking place. What’s more, the contracts being signed exempt companies from new laws which could affect their profits, so they can continue to subject their workers to inhumane working conditions which place their health and safety at risk… War on Want supports the oil workers union in their fight against privatization and their campaign for international solidarity for the plight of the oil workers.”
February 23rd, 2007 at 1:25 pm“they can continue to subject their workers to inhumane working conditions which place their health and safety at risk…”
awesome! just like british petroleum in iran in the ’50s!
February 23rd, 2007 at 1:35 pmthat worked out well.
Chalabi told the criminals what they wanted to hear. Cheney saw free oil for Halliburton. Bush saw money for big business and Daddy/Friends of Daddy. Chalabi wants to replace Saddam as Dictator of Iraq. Notice how the Bush Administration paid Chalabi 300,000 dollars a month since Bush took office. Then in true Bush form the Administration stabbed him in the back. Chalabi goes to Iran but comes back to a big job set by Bush. Now Chalabi is moving in for the kill as he will try to be the Iraq leader. Anybody remember Osama? Well he’s been living good and safe with the help of the Bush/Cheney Administration. Osama gets better medical care then our injured troops. This invasion was about greed and control. The players played the players as seen in the Libby Trial. While Journalist were used to spread the lies to the American people. You thought K Street crimes were bad you have seen nothing yet. Bush will and has destroyed the United States of America while the public watched. No country can trust a word America says anymore as we are now known as LIARS. Americans can’t blame anyone but ourselves as we watched our children die for oil and greed and used God’s name for evil. This is the worse time this country has ever had and we have no one to blame this time.
February 23rd, 2007 at 1:37 pmChalabi is a THIEF, a KNAVE, a MANIPULATIVE SCOUNDREL, and an UNPRINCIPLED BLACKGUARD WHO CANNOT BE AND IS NOT TO BE TRUSTED! WHY IN THE NAME OF JULIUS CAESAR’S GREAT GHOST WOULD THIS PIECE OF RANCID HYENA-SHIT BE PUT IN SUCH A POSITION OF IMPORTANCE? OH! I FORGOT–Chalabi GIVES THE BEST BLOW-JOBS IN ALL OF Baghdad–just ask the neocons in Bushland Uber Allies–THEY can vouch for him! Just LOOK at Chalabi’s VILE and UNSCRUPULOUS FACE and ASK ANYBODY…”Would YOU buy a used Iraq surge from THIS CREATURE?”
February 23rd, 2007 at 1:52 pm#12 - I’d read once last year that is was, in fact, Iraq’s Labor Unions that were holding what little bit of infrastructure they have left together, on their own intitiative and with their own resources…..Very fortunate for the survivors of our “ongoing liberating influence” that Iraq had a healthy supply of union-trained-and-organized professionals in place when the shit hit the fan. And yes, those unions thrived and persisted in spite of Saddam, not at his wish or by his design.
In New Orleans, while the populace was left to fend for itself in the wake of Katrina, local union members of various stripe kept up their work, too - keeping makeshift power and water sources running, boat-lifting strandees, providing healthcare, etc.. That’s the kind of thing that can only happen when organized labor is permitted to flourish.
I live in the NW, where the risk of a big quake is very real. Should something major happen, I’d prefer to have an organized group of professionals in place (and i don’t mean accountants or stockbrokers, i mean electricians, plumbers, etc.) to deal with the aftermath. Somehow, I don’t think a scattered group of habitually competitive, variously-qualified practicioners could be a tiny fraction as effective. I sure as hell don’t believe that random groups of any other type of employees will jump in voluntarily to any net positive effect.
Just another kernel to munch on for those union-haters from the NEA thread that ties in neatly to some bona fide “good news” from Iraq that goes totally unreported, though not for the reasons Righties like to insinuate.
February 23rd, 2007 at 2:15 pmA pig covered in Crisco. Good luck catching him.
February 23rd, 2007 at 2:31 pm“Is it just me, or is it getting positively surreal these days?” –j.rock
“May you live in interesting times.” –old Chinese curse
Is anyone surprised that an administration of liars and thieves would honor and support one of their own? It’s like the boat sailing through shark-infested waters, and a lawyer falls overboard, and the sharks approach him but then swim away. After being rescued, he’s asked why the sharks didn’t attack, and he replies, “Professional courtesy.”
The administration feels it can commit any outrageous act, from funding the fraud-thief-liar Chalabi, to attacking Iran, without fearing any public outrage, just because public opinion is irrelevant. The Bush Gang has power, will use power, and will not relinquish power. The dictatorship is in place; get used to it.
February 23rd, 2007 at 2:35 pmThat man is the biggest reason not to allow this “surge”. He was a lying crook from the beginning.
February 23rd, 2007 at 3:02 pmAhmed Chalabi…
…the PERFECT Bushite-hero…
…man it doesn’t get much better than this…
…Duhmerica, Duhmerica…
…God shed disgrace on thee…
…mmm…
…”Help us LAWD!”
February 23rd, 2007 at 3:35 pmThe administration feels it can commit any outrageous act, from funding the fraud-thief-liar Chalabi, to attacking Iran, without fearing any public outrage, just because public opinion is irrelevant. The Bush Gang has power, will use power, and will not relinquish power. The dictatorship is in place; get used to it.
Comment by Antryg Windrose
And this is why I think even George Orwell would have rubbed his eyes to see the state of affairs today. No longer needed are memory holes down which to flush inconvenient documentary evidence. Even documentary evidence yields now to bold lies, and people forget that which they cannot bear to remember. All you need is doublethink.
I am Locutus of Borg.
Resistance is futile.
February 23rd, 2007 at 3:38 pmAm I the only one who thinks that this is the political equivalent of giving the fox the keys to the henhouse?!? For pity’s sake, this is the same man who got us into this mess to begin with. The informant known as “Curveball” who allegedly provided a lot of the intelligence (if it can even be remotely called that) upon which the war was justified is supposedly the brother of one of Chalabi’s top lieutenants — not to mention, according to German intelligence officials, an unreliable and mentally unstable alcoholic. Do we also need to be reminded that the Jordanians have a prison cell just waiting for Chalabi because he’s been convicted of bank fraud in that country? Chalabi is crooked, corrupt, self-serving, and duplicitous — and the fact that the Bush administration is apparently willing to trust him again indicates that they are either out of their tiny little minds or equally as corrupt as he is, possibly both.
February 23rd, 2007 at 3:45 pmSo georgie takes Ahmed back under his wing? A trusted partner once again. Working for the Americans and the Iranians at the same time.
What will be Ahmed’s next slight of hand? George must know. They play the same games.
February 23rd, 2007 at 3:51 pmI’m sure this is going to be a great help to Bush’s “surge” efforts! I think we should let all the criminals out of jail and put them in the White House where they belong. I can’t even carry on a rational though about these people anymore.
February 23rd, 2007 at 4:10 pm“I am BillGates of Borg. Your software will be assimilated.”
“I am Flatulus of Borg. Resistance is futile. Pull my finger.”
“I am Dyslexic of Borg. Your ass will be laminated.”
“I am Dubya of Borg. Desistance is rutile, or whatever.”
Of course, only old farts remember the Borg now, from b
February 23rd, 2007 at 4:59 pmWoops, cut myself off there… I was saying, only old farts remember the Borg now, from back in the Reagan years. But many of the current players cut their political teeth then, couldn’t get the dictatorship going full-blast, but now is their golden opportunity. Emotions and dreams are manipulated and assimilated, reality is discarded, control is imposed. And public outcry doesn’t matter.
February 23rd, 2007 at 5:06 pmhttp://newsmine.org/
News and Document archive source for uncovering and exposing
February 23rd, 2007 at 5:37 pmwith over 10,000 articles and documents
This is a jaw-dropping piece of news. Outrage is not strong enough to describe it.
February 23rd, 2007 at 6:38 pmThis is the swine that Bush tried to deny even knowing a few years ago. Then he was sitting at the SOTU with Laura! This international criminal has weaseled his way into the trough of Iraq and Bush&Co are OK with it because they recognize one of their own in the pig pen.
February 23rd, 2007 at 6:41 pmGood Christ, talk about insult to injury.
Hasn’t it become clear to all of you yet?
The republicans will use any, or all excuses,
their think tanks can produce, to keep our
Troops in the Pit of Hell called Iraq. This is
an indisputable fact at this point. As soon
as the Anti War faction brings up one of
a million reasons to end this Mobile/Exxon
war of extermination, the republicans simply
move the goal post, to justify staying and
escalating the US subjugation of a defeated,
and totally defenseless nation.
Now ask yourselves , “Why”. A hint, it
February 23rd, 2007 at 7:20 pmstarts with an O and ends with an L. And
from what I have seen on off shore news
websites, the liberators are stealing every
thing not nailed down. Not to mention the
potential fortune to be made with the sale
of un- metered oil exports. The US controls
the source, and no doubt is raking in the
billions, simply by shuting off the meter.
What is our oil doing under all of that Iraqi
sand? Must be another plot by Sadamm.
I called the Senate Armed Service Committee today about the Chalabi story. The young man I spoke to had never heard of Chalabi and had no idea why the story about his new job as “intermediary between Baghdad residents and Iraq & US forces” is something we can’t ignore. This is a problem that we must address.
Thanks to TP for the list of articles about Chalabi. Now how do we get this message to the MSM? How do we get Congress to investigate Chalabi’s new job and demand that the US have nothing more to do with this crook?
PS: Watch for glowing stories about how the escalation is a smashing success — written of course, with information from Ahmed Chalabi.
February 23rd, 2007 at 7:44 pmThe $1.3 billion embassy we are building in the green zone has a staff of 1,000, and it is the largest US embassy in the world, at 104 acres. Walls 15 feet thick, self contained water and power plants, and a budget of $3.5 million per year. Only 3% of those staffed speak Arabic.
February 23rd, 2007 at 7:51 pmIt is being built with American contractors while Iraqis are unemployed, get 4 hours of electricity each day.
So far, Iraqi reconstruction has cost $34 billion.
This war/occupation is costing us $275 million each day.
Comment by Marie #31
I guess we’re staying…
February 24th, 2007 at 12:16 amChalabi is a corrupt con-man so the kind of scum that Bush likes > lol.
February 24th, 2007 at 2:04 amthe only genuine Farsi speaker the Bushites could buy, Chalabi often uses his skills to sell information to Iran. Maybe he is even employed by Iran to provocate the destruction of Iraq, lobbying the United States Congress and bribing the administration.
try not to imagine if the resources of Iran were devoted to lobbying along the same lines as multinational military industry corporations… it might almost threaten our very way of life.
February 25th, 2007 at 10:44 am[…] Earlier this week, Iraq war architect Richard Perle defended the 2003 invasion of Iraq, writing in the New York Times that “the right decision was made.” “We blundered into an ill-conceived occupation that would facilitate a deadly insurgency,” argues Perle, because we didn’t immediately hand power to Iraqi exiles like Pentagon favorite Ahmed Chalabi. […]
March 19th, 2008 at 12:27 pm