tom_thinks

Its great that more people in Washington are tired of Chalabi's crap, but is it too late?

After years of giving Chalabi power, money and influence, he reigns over a web of control "that stretches from the oil industry to the banking system to the purges of former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party."
Analysts say that "unless the Bush administration moves to dismantle his empire, Chalabi will continue controlling much of Iraq's politics from behind the scenes, and he could seriously disrupt American plans for turning over nominal sovereignty to a new Iraqi government on June 30." --'How the Mighty have Fallen'

Given the fact that the Bush Administration hasn't got its shit together in the slightest, Chalabi is a major problem. He's now turned on his masters and is speaking out against the US occupation. That's a pretty popular move with most Iraqis. But he hasn't limited his spin tactics to Iraq, this Sunday he hit the news/talk shows in the US

Asked on "Fox News Sunday" why Habib was on the run if he is innocent, Chalabi said, "In Iraq there is no justice. There is Abu Ghraib prison ... We don't want anybody to be subjected to Abu Ghraib."
Newsday, quoting intelligence sources, reported last week that the administration believes that Chalabi's top security aide, Aras Karim Habib, is an Iranian agent. An arrest warrant was issued for Habib when Iraqi police, reportedly accompanied by FBI agents, raided Chalabi's home and offices last week. He is currently a fugitive.-Newsday Article

There is of course another major issue with this story; who gave this guy the classified intelligence he's accused of giving to Iran? Hmmm. Could it have been one of that fabulous group of war makers, the NeoCons?

Perhaps Ahmad Chalabi's largest backer was senior Pentagon adviser Richard Perle, a major advocate of going to war with Iraq. Instead of admitting the egregious error in handing this power-mad exile so much money and power, Perle defended him to the end, even taking a swipe at the United States. Yesterday, Perle said, "The CIA despises Chalabi; the State Department despises him. They did everything they could to put him out of business. Now there is a deliberate effort to marginalize him." Perle added, "He has devoted his life to freeing his country...He is a man of enormous intelligence, and I believe the effort to marginalize him will fail. They will end up looking ridiculous." -'How the Mighty have Fallen'

Knowing the Bush Administration's deep commitment to ethical behavior, I'm sure they'll conduct a vigorous investigation to find out who is responsible, right after they get done with that Valerie Plame investigation, the Abu Ghraib investigation, the Medicare scandal and right after they find those missing stockpiles of WMD.
After originally posting this, I came across this editorial from William Rivers Pitt at truthout.org

Iran's motives are crystal clear. Iraq has been a mortal enemy of Iran for decades. The process engineered by Chalabi has destroyed that enemy, and opened the way to a Shia-controlled Iraq that would be a natural ally of Shia-controlled Iran. In the process, Iran has come into possession of national security secrets so important that only a select few American officials were cleared for them. As a side benefit, Iran has watched the United States flail like a beached whale in Iraq, squandering billions of dollars and thousands of lives while shattering its reputation around the world.

It's really worth reading the full text