Prior To Iraq War, McCain Political Adviser Charlie Black Helped Chalabi Push WMD Claims
Prior To Iraq War, McCain Political Adviser Charlie Black Helped Chalabi Push WMD Claims
ThinkProgress recently reported on Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) long friendship with Iraqi exile leader Ahmad Chalabi, who drummed up claims that Saddam Hussein had WMD and helped lead the United States into war.
But McCain isn’t the only one on his campaign with ties to Chalabi. Charlie Black serves as McCain’s (R-AZ) chief political adviser. He is also an uber-lobbyist, “chairman of one of Washington’s lobbying powerhouses,” BKSH and Associates.
Black and BKSH represented Chalabi’s former group, the Iraqi National Congress, giving the Iraqi politician access to high-powered officials in Washington. Chalabi even scored a seat in First Lady Laura Bush’s VIP box at the 2004 SOTU address. This connection has also helped Black, who “touted” his ties to Chalabi to get work in Iraq:
– “Due to our past representation of the INC,” says Black, “we know and have worked with a lot of people who will be in the provisional government. We have a number of clients who are interested in doing business in Iraq.” Black adds that his firm is “strongly considering” opening an office in Baghdad. [National Journal, 8/7/03]
– When it comes to Iraqi connections, the competition is fierce. BKSH & Associates, the lobby firm run by GOP strategist Charlie Black, touts its connections to Ahmed Chalabi (until recently a Pentagon sweetheart), who formerly headed the exiled Iraqi National Congress and is currently on Iraq’s governing council. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 10/1/03]
This PR paid off. In 2005, BKSH was hired by The Lincoln Group, which had a federal government contract to secretly pay Iraqi newspapers “to publish stories written by American troops in an effort to burnish the image of the U.S. mission in Iraq.”
BKSH helped sell this misguided war to the American public. Francis Brooke, a BKSH employee who worked with Chalabi, helped focus on WMD in the case for war. Brooke and Chalabi’s group were specifically “enlisted to promote the danger posed by Saddam’s regime.” [New Yorker, 6/7/04]
In 1998, McCain pressured the Clinton administration to give Chalabi funding, and once called him “a patriot who has the best interests of his country at heart.” In fact, McCain was Chalabi’s “favored candidate in the 2000 election.”
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21 Responses to “Prior To Iraq War, McCain Political Adviser Charlie Black Helped Chalabi Push WMD Claims”
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McCain's ready made team of neo-con corporate militarists has long been assembled and waiting.
March 11th, 2008 at 10:52 amLong before he became the apparent nominee.
"The team" is totally relieved it wasn't Huckabee, 'cause they would have had to stop cursing.
McCain: Scary for so many reasons.
March 11th, 2008 at 10:58 amAnd these hacks just collect the money and go home.... paid to perpetuate a lie...story of ALL the bushies....
AND the slime balls that put him there.
March 11th, 2008 at 11:01 amI'd almost forgotten about Chalabi. hehe. which means 92% of America has forgotten about Chalabi.
March 11th, 2008 at 11:15 amGood times. Still the Best War Ever.
http://tshirtinsurgency.com/best-war-ever-t-shirt
Always about the money with these guys. No wonder 7 trillion [of 9+trillion] of our debt has been compiled under the GOP.
March 11th, 2008 at 11:21 amDidn't Chalabi receive about 0.3% of the vote in the last election?
Isn't he wanted in Jordan for $100 million bank fraud?
March 11th, 2008 at 11:21 amBKSH and Associates.
is that russian?
i'm sorry...
hey... spring it getting here... my first chore of the season: chop down the ornamentaly grasses... a little late this year...
March 11th, 2008 at 11:28 amout to the garden for a while...
play fair!
Be careful, TP -- Glenn Beck will pick this post up and edit it to indicate that "TP now is sliming John McCain, saying that his chief political advisor helped Ahmed Chalabi 'score . . . in First Lady Laura Bush’s . . . box at the 2004 SOTU address.'"
Of course, Chalabi screwed our country and his, and obviously was screwing Dumbya, so perhaps this Beck-esque editing isn't so far off...
March 11th, 2008 at 11:30 amThinkProgress has failed to mention that the chief campaign strategist for TP's candidate -- Hillary Clinton -- is Mark Penn, the CEO of Burson-Marsteller....Burson-Marsteller has close ties to Chalabi and the Iraqi National Congress:
"Burson-Marsteller is working to enhance the credibility of the Iraqi National Congress as it seeks to establish itself as a legitimate force in postinvasion Iraq,’ writes the Holmes Report, a PR trade publication. ‘B-M has been working with the Congress, led by highprofile Iraqi exile Ahmed Chalabi, since 1999, under a state department contract. Chalabi and the Congress have close ties with the Bush administration, but some critics are concerned that their support within Iraq is shallow. “We’ve been the communications vehicle on the outside as the INC moved into northern Iraq, then to Nasiriya, and to Baghdad,†K. Riva Levinson, who heads the INC account for Burson out of Washington, told reporters. “We were helping the INC get out statements and videos that made clear that the exiled opposition was consolidating and moving. It’s been a tremendous ride for them and for us.â€â€™
Source: The Holmes Report (www.holmesreport.com), May 5, 2003"
March 11th, 2008 at 11:36 amChalabi would be the perfect running mate for Grampa McCain. The no scruples, say anything ticket.
March 11th, 2008 at 11:39 amOver the past week, Democrat Hillary Clinton has proclaimed her potential Republican rival John McCain to be the gold standard of wartime presidents. But lost in Clinton's fierce barrage against Barack Obama's national security experience is the inescapable conclusion about John McCain's own suitability as Commander-in-Chief. McCain's mistake-filled record, questionable judgment, calamitous misreading of history, nonchalance about American casualties and notorious short fuse all combine to make him a dangerous choice to lead an America at war. Simply put, John McCain is unfit for command.
For details, see:
March 11th, 2008 at 11:56 am"John McCain: Unfit for Command."
Exley comes up with an exotic variation on the "Clinton did it, too/first" gambit. Neat.
March 11th, 2008 at 12:13 pmI knew I remembered this assclown from the past. He was pushing Chalabi to Feith and the rest of the NeoCon cabal...
March 11th, 2008 at 12:17 pmExley comes up with a 5-year-old srticle. How relevant.
March 11th, 2008 at 1:05 pmExley comes up with a 5-year-old srticle. How relevant.
Comment by Lefty Patriot — March 11, 2008 @ 1:05 pm
I don't care how old his stricle is. I just wish he'd go stick it in someone else's blog.
March 11th, 2008 at 1:11 pmOne would think with all the money Charlie Black has, you'd think he'd at least get his teeth cleaned! His teeth look like a piano keyboard! But not with white and black keys, but black and tabacco-stain-yellow colored keys!
March 11th, 2008 at 1:53 pmA vote for McCain is a vote to continue the administration of GWBush.
March 11th, 2008 at 1:55 pmOld man Johnny must have dementia. He forgets so much.He is so inept at what does now in the senate, my god as a president he will just be another CHIMP.I can hardly wait till United Technologies buy`s Diebold to fix the election for him.
March 11th, 2008 at 2:41 pmAh, Lefty Patriot and Ranting Tommy...It seems you failed to notice that the National Journal and St. Louis Post-Dispatch articles that TP cited are also from 2003...
Heh! How embarrassing for you two.
March 11th, 2008 at 3:48 pmI was wondering if the GOP could evolve past their "Clintons, Democrats did it too" talking point...
I guess I was mistaken...
July 5th, 2008 at 9:02 pmOver the past week, Democrat Hillary Clinton has proclaimed her potential Republican rival John McCain to be the gold standard of wartime presidents. But lost in Clinton’s fierce barrage against Barack Obama’s national security experience is the inescapable conclusion about John McCain’s own suitability as Commander-in-Chief. McCain’s mistake-filled record, questionable judgment, calamitous misreading of history, nonchalance about American casualties and notorious short fuse all combine to make him a dangerous choice to lead compaq evo n400 battery,compaq nx7000 battery an America at war. Simply put, John McCain is unfit for command.
October 15th, 2008 at 4:33 am