FLASHBACK: McCain Called Chalabi ‘A Patriot’ With Iraq’s ‘Best Interests At Heart’
FLASHBACK: McCain Called Chalabi ‘A Patriot’ With Iraq’s ‘Best Interests At Heart’
Iraqi exile leader Ahmad Chalabi was one of the most sordid figures in the run-up to the Iraq war. Paid by the Bush administration to muster pre-war intelligence, Chalabi drummed up claims that Saddam Hussein had WMD, helping lead the United States into war. More recently, he promoted the “surge” to the Iraqi government.
A new book by Aram Roston reveals that Chalabi supported John McCain (R-AZ) for president in 2000, believing that the senator would be the most receptive to his agenda. Muckraked reports:
One of his key backers has been John McCain, who was one of the first patrons of Chalabi’s grand-sounding International Committee for a Free Iraq when it was founded in 1991. McCain was Chalabi’s favored candidate in the 2000 election since Chalabi knew that he would be able to free up the $97 million in military aid plus millions pushed through in Congress and earmarked for Chalabi’s exile group, the Iraqi National Congress, but held up by the Clinton State Department.
Indeed, McCain was a Chalabi backer long before President Bush took power. In 1997, he tried to pressure the Clinton administration into setting up an Iraqi government in exile. Despite opposition from the Pentagon and the State Department, the next fall, McCain co-sponsored the Iraq Liberation Act, committing the United States to overthrowing Saddam and funding opposition groups. According to a 2006 article by John Judis:
McCain welcomed Ahmed Chalabi, leader of the Iraqi National Congress (INC), to Washington and pressured the administration to give him money. When General Anthony Zinni cast doubt upon the effectiveness of the Iraqi opposition, McCain rebuked him at a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
In 2003, McCain joined four other Republican senators and asked Bush to “personally clear the bureaucratic roadblocks within the State Department” that blocked increased funding for the Chalabi’s group.
Also that year, McCain said of Chalabi, “He’s a patriot who has the best interests of his country at heart.”
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Musharraf opponents to form new gov’t
BHURBAN, Pakistan - Pakistan’s election winners sealed an agreement Sunday to form a coalition government and said parliament will restore judges ousted by President Pervez Musharraf — further clouding the U.S.-allied leader’s political future.
March 9th, 2008 at 9:34 amChalabi- bushco stooge. I bet they wished they installed him as absolute dictator. It would so easy to control one iron man by another tyrant, truly bush/cheney style. Guvmint is so easy when you ignore the messy democracy part, just ask george.
March 9th, 2008 at 10:46 amMcSame has never impressed me as a good judge of character. This story is just one more example of how closely he resembles GDumbya. This will be his ultimate undoing.
March 9th, 2008 at 10:52 amWho has gotten more Americans killed – Chalabi or bin Laden?
March 9th, 2008 at 10:53 amWasn’t Chalabi a “double agent” of sorts by collaborating with Iran against the “US interests” while he was in power? Yep, good patriot there, McSane.
March 9th, 2008 at 10:54 amI guess, according to McBush, Chalabi is the proverbial “hooker with a heart of gold”.
March 9th, 2008 at 11:06 amAnother case of McCain’s poor judgement.
Now he wants to be the equivalent of a 3rd Bush term, thereby proving him crazy.
March 9th, 2008 at 11:08 amChalabi is a patriot in the same way bush is a patriot.
March 9th, 2008 at 11:16 amDidn’t he say the same thing about Charles Keating? McCain’s got a soft spot for frauds and embezzlers.
March 9th, 2008 at 11:17 amJohn McCain, the “maverick”, certainly hitched his wagon to the Bush star after 2000. The maverick became, and continues to become ever more, sycophantic in his pursuit of the support of the very people who tanked his 2000 presidential bid in South Carolina.
March 9th, 2008 at 11:22 amFortunately for him the MSM is ever so consumed right now with the Obama-Clinton dust-up.
Senators: Where is Iraq’s oil money going?
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — Two senators are asking congressional investigators to look at Iraq’s oil revenues and see if the war-ravaged nation can pay for its own reconstruction, an effort that has been bankrolled to this point mostly by U.S. taxpayers.
LINK
March 9th, 2008 at 11:23 amHopefully, Clinton and Obama will get the word out to their audiences that McCain has a poor history for picking sides to support like Chalabi. McCain has a history of misteps like the Keating bank scandal and for his support of the very bad Chalabi.
March 9th, 2008 at 11:36 amChalabi was an Iraqi refugee who fled to Iran when shock and awe hit Baghdad. This is just another said commentary on the state of REICH WING politics.To understand the Reich wing you need to read about Strauss`s “Noble Lie”.
March 9th, 2008 at 11:42 amMcCain either forgot or chose to conveniently overlook the fact that at the time, the country of Jordan considered Chalabi a criminal for fleeing the country after his company (Petra Bank) failed to meet Jordanian banking requirements. Let’s also not forget that Chalabi is the man responsible for introducing the US government to the man codenamed “Curveball”, the man who was a pivotal source of information which led to the War In Iraq despite the fact that German intelligence issued warnings suggesting he was unreliable and not to be trusted.
March 9th, 2008 at 11:43 amBAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — Two senators are asking congressional investigators to look at Iraq’s oil revenues and see if the war-ravaged nation can pay for its own reconstruction, an effort that has been bankrolled to this point mostly by U.S. taxpayers.
LINK
Comment by DieNowForPeace
I think this is against the Geneva Conventions. Occupiers can not make the occupied pay for damages caused by the occupation. I could be wrong,, but I think this is the case. And we know that bush respects the Geneva Conventions almost as much as he respects the Constitution…
March 9th, 2008 at 11:47 amIf there’s honor among thieves, there must be true brotherhood between war criminals.
McCain: So, his machinations resulted in the deaths of an untold number of non-combatants, including women and children (among a very long list of lesser crimes). So what? I don’t care if he’s a merchant of death and the father of the lie - he’s on our side.
March 9th, 2008 at 12:07 pmOff Topic
Well I quit watching Sunday morning political talk shows a long time ago because of the disproportionate number of republicans they always have on. I happened to catch Meet the Press this morning and there were two democrats on…..one of them was John Kerry and I was hoping they were getting some of the truth out about the republicans but I was wrong…..
they were fighting with each other over the Fla primary……..I was too embarrassed to watch it all. This should be discussed and resolved by the Democrats in private, behind closed doors and the decision should be the only thing disclosed in public……..in unity…….
the infighting in public over this issue quickly deteriorated into Obama/Clinton bashing…….I personally agree with Kerry that Hillary should never have even tried to use Fla after the DNC denied their delagates. All other Democrates honored it.
It doesn’t matter though because this was an opportunity to get Democrats before the public at large for a change and it was wasted in my opinion.
I apologize for the off topic post.
March 9th, 2008 at 12:10 pmRemember that Chalabi sat with Laura Bush at the SOTU speech two years ago.
March 9th, 2008 at 12:27 pmMcCain is so much like Bush in every way, and as president would be equal to four more years of the same.
The PR firm run by Hillary Clinton’s top strategist, Mark Penn, has represented Ahmed Chalabi.
And Blackwater.
And big tobacco.
And union busters.
The Nation
March 9th, 2008 at 12:53 pm“Also that year, McCain said of Chalabi, “He’s a patriot who has the best interests of his country at heart.â€
Didn’t he say the same think about Rick Renzi, indicted fraud?
I’ll be he said the same thing about Abramoff and DeLay, too.
March 9th, 2008 at 1:35 pmChalabi should be drawn, quartered and fed to the dogs. A reeking dirtball and a BFF of ShrubCo and McBush.
March 9th, 2008 at 1:48 pmChalabi a patriot??!!!!!! Chalabi a patriot???????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He is a crook, a lier, a war criminal! Chalabi should be facing execution!
March 9th, 2008 at 2:42 pmChalabi is a crook and we knew it at the time. But he was telling these idiots what the wanted to hear. So they paid him to keep telling them a bunch of bull-shlt. If that’s all it takes, I should be rich too. I’ll tell them what ever they want to hear too. Just give me 100 million dollars tax free. Oh I forgot, I’m not a lying crook who’s out to take advantage of fools.
March 9th, 2008 at 4:27 pmMcCain is no judge of character — that’s another undesirable trait he shares with Bush!
March 9th, 2008 at 4:34 pmMcCain has a long history of shooting from the lip. Opposition research will have a field day mining the stuff he has said over the years. The risk is that there will be so much of it that the really bad stuff will get lost in the shuffle. Even the Keating Five stuff will float back to the top where McCain will have to answer for his role in that mess.
March 10th, 2008 at 12:20 amHmmm, maybe he should call his bus the “crooked corruption express”
Chalabi is wanted for embezzling nearly $300 million through a bank he created in Jordan. If here were to enter Jordan right now, he would face 22 year sentence.
March 10th, 2008 at 1:30 pmHere’s something I bet you didn’t know .
Chalabi attended the Bilderberg meeting in Canada . The private meeting attended by THE wealthiest and most powerful people in the world , bankers, heads of oil companies, kissenger , etc. etc.
Now WHY would these elitist , one world government cabal want this bottom feeding FELON , to attend their meeting . We’ll I believe he was named Iraqi oil minister .
March 11th, 2008 at 2:21 am