U.S. Troops Surround Chalabi's House

[RoyGBiv]

U.S. Troops Surround Chalabi's House

BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. soldiers and Iraqi police surrounded the residence of Iraqi politician Ahmad Chalabi on Thursday, and an aide said the troops raided the house ostensibly to search for fugitives.

The aide, Haidar Musawi, accused the Americans of trying to pressure Chalabi, a longtime Pentagon (news - web sites) favorite who has become openly critical of U.S. plans for how much power to transfer to the Iraqis on June 30.

He said the Americans also raided offices of Chalabi's Iraqi National Congress.

"The aim is to put political pressure," Musawi told The Associated Press. "Why is this happening at a time when the government is being formed?"

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&ncid=721&e=7&u=/ap/20040520/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_chalabi

[skooooo]

1. Answer to your question, Musawi....

....Because we're fucking everything else up, and want to be complete about the job.



We don't like weddings either.

[0007]

21. We don't like weddings and we don't like people going to weddings

Will Ahmad Chalabi's cousin still prosecute Saddam Hussein?

[Spentastic]

2. Ha ha ha ha ha ha

They're going to kill the bloke that let them do this.

It's like watching back stabbing for dummies.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

33. "back stabbing for dummies"

LOL... that was worth a guffaw.

[sistersofmercy]

50. LOL! Oh how very befitting!

"back stabbing for dummies."

[bluestateguy]

3. Hmm mm

This is the way it works with this Bush crowd. You skip to their tune for awhile and they take real good care of you. Once you cross them they throw you overboard like a can of bad beer.

[AussieInCA]

4. LOL - Chalabi's secret book must of been confiscated! exbuscho employee!

[BiggJawn]

45. They snatched his computers.

Heard that on the BBC...
Another PNAC plan, blown up in their faces.....

[mitchtv]

5. its happening cause the Bushes always turn on

their agents when they cease to be useful. Ask noriega, Saddam

[hang a left]

74. Don't forget

Osama.

[Judi Lynn]

6. Gee, is nothing sacred?

How could they do this to this dear man who told them about all the WMD and how Iraqis would throw flowers in the air and dance about with joy when _Bush grabbed their oil?

Is he "on the run" and have we "smoked him out?" Looks like _Bush doesn't put much stock in loyalty to friends.

[ConcernedCanuk]

7. well, the BoyKing DID say - "you're with us or you're with the terrorists"

.
.
.

So he's just "staying the course"

Doesn't matter to the evil emperor that he is on the wrong road

He WILL "Stay the Course"

and drag the US further into the abyss of hatred and shame.

[rooboy]

8. Anyone remember hearing that Chalabi grabbed a lot of documents?

A few weeks ago I heard that Chalabi's men had gone in and taken lots of documents from Saddam's secret services. Methinks Rummy's getting a little bit nervous now that information is starting to leak.

[RoyGBiv]

10. Yes...

This is exactly what I think may be at work here.

[leftchick]

11. I had not heard that rooboy. I did read that he has been...

hanging out with some Iranians which has been pissing off the US officials. Perhaps that is what this is about.

[saigon68]

16. That's a big part of it.

He's now expendable. The CHIMP and his HANDLERS have new PUPPETS to control.

[hang a left]

75. These are probably Negropoint's

new ideas.

[DoYouEverWonder]

14. Seems we went in to get those documents back?

Some people could be seen loading boxes into vehicles, and neighbors said some members of Chalabi's entourage were taken away.

(From the above link)

[sistersofmercy]

53. Yes and towards the beginning of this criminal war, Chalabi

publicly stated he had crates containing millions of documents. His statement came after Jordan began pressuring about Chalabi's little bank embezzlement problem. He essentially said he had seized documents revealing unscrupulous links with King Abdullah to Uday Hussein that he could release. Further stating that the King was a changed man and he would only release the documents in order to defend himself, Jordan got real quiet about the bank embezzlement charge.

[hang a left]

76. Oooh.

Missed that story.

[GoBlue]

9. See this also, Neocon Lets Cat Out of Bag

Robert Dreyfuss
May 19, 2004

Michael Rubin—a young staffer at the American Enterprise Institute who’s just left the Pentagon, where he played a small role as a neocon cog in the Office of Special Plans war machine—let a herd of cats out of the bag about his favorite Iraqi phony, Ahmad Chalabi of the Iraqi National Congress.

Chalabi, of course, is the roly-poly perpetrator of intelligence fraud and the convicted bank embezzler who still hopes to be leader of Iraq. Lately, Chalabi has scuttled into a would-be alliance with Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the scowly fatwa man. In doing so, he’s had the temerity to criticize the United States, leading some fuzzy thinkers to believe that Chalabi, whose puppet strings are made of steel, might be trying to show some independence from Washington. Well, says Rubin, who served as one the Pentagon’s liaisons to Chalabi, that’s exactly what they want you to think:

“Much of the information he collected was to roll up the insurgency and Ba'athist cells. It caught people red-handed," said Michael Rubin, a former Pentagon adviser who is now at a conservative think-tank, the American Enterprise Institute.

"By telegraphing that he is not the favorite son of America, the administration will bolster him, showing he is his own man."


more at
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/neocon_lets_cat_out_of_bag.php

[Imperialism Inc.]

54. I guess I am too cynical. but that is the light in which I have

always viewed Chalabi's "independent stances". It is just a setup to give him political power. It is a ruse. I mean his nephew is going to prosecute Saddam. That doesn't sound like a family there has been a split with in the US.

[hang a left]

77. That freakin' makes total sense.

Man these people keep you on your toes.

[Just Me]

80. No. I believe the neocons are totally losing control.

Of course, that is merely the impression of "Just Me". However, given the unleashing of so much evidence of neocon abuses by "good" guys in the intelligence and diplomatic and military communities,...I sincerely believe that the neocons are finding their coup being unseated.

[Rebel_with_a_cause]

12. As US generals learned very early on....

"We hitched our horse to the wrong wagon."

[Disturbed]

13. Security

Chalibi is doomed. Sooner or later he will be assasinated. It's only a question of what faction of the Iraqis or the US will succeed.

[cal04]

15. no wonder they went to his house

don't mess with Mr. Bush's oil

On Wednesday he said in a BBC interview that Iraqis should have complete control over oil, development and property currently in US hands.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3731819.stm

[oblivious]

23. Yup, surely that's it. There's just mind-boggling money involved.

Raiding Iraq's Piggy Bank

May 17, 2004 | As the occupation of Iraq dissolves further into bloody chaos, the colonial overseers in Baghdad are keeping their eyes fixed on what is really important: Iraq's money and how to keep it. Whatever apology for a "sovereign" Iraqi government is permitted to take office after June 30 -- and U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi admits in private that he "has to do" whatever the Americans tell him to do -- the United States is making sure that the Iraqis do not get their hands on their country's oil revenues.

We are talking about big money here: Iraq's oil exports are slated to top $16 billion this year alone. U.N. Security Resolution 1483, rammed through by the United States a year ago, gives total control of the money from oil sales -- currently the only source of revenue in Iraq -- to the occupying power, i.e., the United States. The actual repository for the money is an entity called the Development Fund for Iraq, which in effect functions as a private piggy bank for Paul Bremer's Coalition Provisional Authority. The DFI is directed by a Program Review Board of 11 members, just one of whom is Iraqi.

...Under the terms of 1483 the DFI also took over all funds -- $8.1 billion so far -- in the U.N.'s oil-for-food program accounts (Russian and Chinese support for the resolution was bought by agreeing to keep the oil-for-food racket running for a few more months); various caches of Saddam Hussein's frozen assets around the world, amounting to $2.5 billion; and further cash left behind by Saddam inside Iraq, estimated at about $1.3 billion. The money is kept in an account at the Federal Reserve Bank in New York.

http://fairuse.1accesshost.com/news1/salon12.htm

edit: spelling and italics

[Raven]

17. This is the lead story on "Today" this morning...

the comment being that this is very embarrassing for Bush. Maybe the media can't ignore this stuff anymore.

[NuttyFluffers]

18. you can only play both sides against the middle for so long

whatever, i really don't care if anything bad happens to him. he has a lot of karma to work off. won't be surprised if he ends up on a little trip to 'camp redemption.'

[maddezmom]

19. who are the INC fugitives they are looking for???

hmmm, one comes to mind - al-Taee.

[markses]

20. Chalabi is himself a fugitive

Having been legally convicted in absentia of bank fraud in a Jordanian courtroom.

[NeoConsSuck]

22. Exactly!

Of course, this sort of information is hard to find in corporate media. At least, up until the time that Chalabi fell out of favor with the Bush crime family.

Expect corporate media to do an about face very soon and start reporting that Chalabi is now a "bad guy".

[dusty64]

30. Will they mention the

taxpayers of this country were paying him until just this week. Wonder what he's got on our regime?

[maddezmom]

29. and we let him have his own army

:shrug: where is his army now?

[MSgt213]

24. Welcome to the dog house Chalabi. If Bush turns on his own how much of a

chance did you think you would had. Here's some advice. Wait for the turn over then talk shit.

[goddess40]

25. police raid Chalabi's home

What? Ahmed Chalabi corrupt? You're kidding!

Has this administration gotten ANYTHING right?

U.S. troops, Iraqi
Arrest warrants issued for 16 affiliated with Iraqi National CongressNBC News and news services
Updated: 6:52 a.m. ET May 20, 2004BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. soldiers and Iraqi police raided the residence of Iraqi politician Ahmad Chalabi on Thursday, and aides accused the Americans of trying to pressure him to stop complaining about U.S. plans for Iraq after sovereignty is transferred at the end of next month.

NBC news has learned that an Iraqi judge issued arrest warrants for 16 people affliliated with Chalabi's Iraqi National Congress. The raid is said to be related to alleged financial misdealings at the end of last year during the conversion from Saddam-era dinars to new Iraqi dinars.

There was no comment from U.S. authorities, but American officials here have complained privately that Chalabi is interfering with a U.S. investigation into allegations that Saddam Hussein's regime skimmed millions in oil revenues during the U.N.-run oil-for-food program.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5019721/

Bush and his cronies have backed a losing horse yet again. It is time for this crew to admit their abject failures in leadership and STEP DOWN.

Only die hard, desperate neocons or total idiots can support this administration at this point in time.

[Snellius]

26. Maybe Chalabi and Saddam can share a cell together

Maybe a webcam? With panties on their heads?

[RoyGBiv]

28. Chalabi and Bush

I'd prefer if Chalabi and Bush shared a cell together and were occasionally let out in the yard to play with Hussein and Rice and Cheney.

They could make a club.

[chookie]

27. A horrible possibility

Was Chalabi just lucky the other day when he managed to pass through that tricky checkpoint, which seconds later a bomb would kill the head of the Iraqi Council -- or could he possibly be involved?

Sounds like they are being awfully heavy-handed with one of Cheney's best pals if it's just a search for one who does not enthusiastically support the US plan for transfer of power....

I suspect Chalabi was caught red-handed, if not in a conspiracy to kill off his opponents, but something very heavy.

[Junkdrawer]

31. Why, Chalabi couldn't have been involved in black ops with the US...

because if he was, he would have tons of blackmail material and he could blackmail his way into governing Iraq and then troops would have to.....raid......his......home.......to....retrieve..........

Never mind.

[susu369]

32. Um-m-m, first they cut off the money

to him and then raid his residence. Could this lead to a delay in the brilliant plan for June 30th turnover?

Damn, the bu$hies had it all in order until they just happened to find out that Chalabi really wasn't the buddy they thought he was?

Okay, time for another cup of coffee.

[lostnfound]

34. Unbelievable. Excellent. 'Mayberry Machiavellis' at there finest.

Glad to see the scoundrel under pressure, but does this mean officially we've reached 100% level -- of Iraqis want us out?

Chalabi was our girlfriend..

No problem -- in Bushworld, force solves every problem of a 'democracy'.

[Ganja Ninja]

35. This whole illegal endeavor is crumbling apart at an alarming rate.

But it's not fast enough for me.

[leftchick]

36. It Looks Like IRAN is the Reason... Newsweek Article....

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5016031/site/newsweek/

Rethinking the Chalabi Connection
Why the Pentagon cut off funding to the Iraqi National Congress Newsweek
Updated: 7:03 p.m. ET May 19, 2004

May 19 - Pentagon officials say the decision by Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz to cut off funding this week for the Iraqi National Congress was made because U.S. financial backing of an Iraqi political party had become “inappropriate” in light of efforts to set up a new Iraqi government on June 30. But the funding decision follows disclosures that INC leader Ahmad Chalabi and some of his aides supplied sensitive information about U.S. security operations in Baghdad to the Iranian government, according to U.S. intelligence sources.

The decision also coincides with the launch, by Coalition authorities in Iraq, of a wide-ranging investigation into allegation that INC leaders engaged in extortion and other corrupt activities inside Iraq. An INC spokesman said that the group and its leader had not been informed about a corruption investigation or been contacted about it by Coalition authorities. The spokesman also denied that anyone from the group had supplied sensitive information to Iran.

Pentagon officials have claimed that the INC’s intelligence program was extremely valuable in helping U.S. forces in postwar Iraq track down and arrest high-ranking members of the former Iraqi regime. INC supporters in Washington, including top officials in the Defense Department, have repeatedly insisted that information supplied by the INC has “saved American lives” in Iraq.

Defense sources say the INC signed a written agreement with the Defence Intelligence Agency, which included strict controls over INC information-gathering activities, involving close supervision of INC intelligence personnel by case officers from the DIA.

[Spentastic]

37. From BBC

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3731819.stm

Note that it would appear that mercenaries are also involved in this operation.

I wonder if a civilian contactor will accidentally "off" Chalabi.

[Just Me]

39. Damn,...mercs everywhere. n/t

[CWebster]

38. He was becoming too much of a liability

His own criminal greed was causing him to forget his place in the scheme of things and start to nip at the hand that was feeding him. No, it wouldn't surprise me that he was attempting to consolodate power by targeting opponents and no it would not surprise me that his terrorist INC army of between 600 and 700 thugs flown into Iraq, with the US invasion, have been involved in some very dirty black ops.

Tin hat or not, I always had the suspicion that Chalabi's boys were behind the Berg decapitation (atributed to al Zarqawi)so it was no surprise to hear that Berg had INC connections, as well as the recent targeting of Salim, also atributed to al-Zarqawi.

[Snazzy]

40. E&P: New Revelations Highlight Miller Ink Stain at 'NY Times'

New Revelations Highlight Miller Ink Stain at 'NY Times'
Colin Powell admits being wrong about WMD in Iraq. What about the Gray Lady?

By William E. Jackson Jr.

(May 19, 2004) -- This past Monday, The New York Times published "U.S. and Iraq Spar Over Who Should Run Corruption Inquiry Into Oil-for-Food Program," a jointly-authored piece by Susan Sachs and Judith Miller. Sandwiched into the story was the observation that, beyond the political question of who should run such an explosive investigation, there was the practical question of access to thousands of documents that remain in the hands of individual Governing Council members "like Ahmad Chalabi ... a former exile who returned with the strong backing of many Bush administration officials."

Was this an attempt by Judith Miller to distance herself from the Iraqi National Congress (INC) leader with whom she had such a close working relationship during the long period of her misreporting on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq? For Chalabi had been not only the favorite of the Pentagon to govern Iraq; he was Miller's as well.

That day, the Times also reported Secretary of State Colin Powell's confession on "Meet the Press" the previous day, near the close of a staff-interrupted interview with Tim Russert, that he and the CIA had been fooled by intelligence sources who provided wrong and "deliberately misleading" information about Iraqi WMD -- such as presented to the UN Security Council on Feb. 5, 2003. Not included in the paper's brief account was any mention of the fact that the Times itself had been a conduit for such bogus information through Miller's reporting at home and abroad, which heavily relied upon INC defectors either offered by Chalabi or the Bush administration.

....

and more at: http://www.mediainfo.com/eandp/columns/shoptalk_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000514376

There seems to have been a memo to ditch Chalabi--even Miller.

[underpants]

42. Ernst &Young vs. KPMG as an accountant this is hilarious

I now they JUST WANT THE BUSINESS but they should have known better (KPMG) than to get involved with a convicted fraud.

[robbedvoter]

56. Thanks! I was worried about little Judy and dear NYT - I'll keep this

next to Clinton's interview where he said: "I wish we could have had NYT without Whitewater and Wen Ho Lee" (answering to the question "Too bad we couldn't have had Clinton without lewinski")
Vindication is sweet!

[PolJugglr]

41. CNN announces 9am EDT Chalabi Press Conference - eom

[maddezmom]

46. will be interesting to see what his side of the story is....

[maddezmom]

51. powell is on now...guess Chalabi got bumped

[CaptainClark23]

63. I'm a legitimate businessman!

and what's it to you if I choose to have an office in the trunk of a car!

[Merlin]

43. An elaborate ruse to paint Chalabi as Arafat to the Iraqis. Won't wash.

That's my take. Chalabi is a classic chameleon. That's his talent. He is all things to all people. Now he and the US want him to be a hero to the Iraqis, and the only way that can happen is if the US suddenly turns on him.

[Bhaisahab]

47. Bang on! n/t

[muriel_volestrangler]

49. It's convenient he wasn't arrested, isn't it?

Since SOP up until now has been to arrest any male found in a house, throw them in Abu Ghraib, and then maybe sort them out later; suddenly suspects are able to give press conferences about their 'ordeal'. Who's to say what was actually taken away? Extreme scepticism is justified here, I think.

[bemildred]

81. Somebody has to undercut al Sadr politically.

It's very amusing that they think this asshole can do that job.

[underpants]

44. CORRUPTION?!?!............In IRAQ?!?!?!?!

A tiger?!?!?............in AFRICA?!?!?!?

[truthspeaker]

62. Tigers live in India, not Africa

[Spentastic]

64. Not according to Peter Sellers

Related by Spike Milligan in his war memmoirs

Seller's was sevring in Ceylon and he reported to hei superiaor that he had heard a tiger outside his tent.

His commanding officer asked why he thought it was a tiger. Sellars replied that he had heard it roar. The CO informed Sellers that there are no tigers in Ceylon and how could Sellers be sure from a roar that it was in fact a tiger. Sellers replied " The roar had stripes". This comment gained him a trip to the shrink.

[underpants]

67. It's supposed to be a Monty Python quote

Either I got it wrong (my money is that I did) or they did. :shrug:

[gasperc]

48. selling secrets to Iran

what goes around comes around

fucking the fucker that fucked us, too bad its too fucking late for the thousands wounded and killed let alone the billions down the fucking drain

nothing like the F word

:mad:

[turiya]

52. this is a smokescreen

I am surprised you all are falling for it.

[maddezmom]

55. let us in on the secret?

if you mean we're stealing the files because it'll implicate the US gov't and probably someone within the misadministration....I'm with ya

[robbedvoter]

57. See post # 9 - it's a possibility

[Imperialism Inc.]

61. This isn't Chalibi's first row with the administration and yet he has

stayed in place until now.

It could be for real this time, they did cut off the money. However, they also appointed his nephew to prosecute Saddam. There is some deep trust there between the White House and that family. That prosecutor job is crucial! I find it hard to believe they would give the job to this nephew if the things Chalabi has said in the past are not just ploys.

I think this is just an attempt to try to get some Iraqis to rally behind Chalabi ... the man they know will make sure all contracts go to the "proper" companies. If it doesn't work then they already have the back story to why they had to get rid of him.

[maddezmom]

65. he's pinning the blame on Ex-Baathists who are in control of the Iraqi PD

and Bremer saying the search warrant wasn't by a court of law, but a lawyer who works for Bremer. The same person that issued the arrest warrant for al-Sadr.

Up next...The Kimmitt and Senor show.

[Kolesar]

58. Hey motherfucker, you got us into this war!

If it weren't for your lies we wouldn't be here!

[Oilwellian]

69. Or....

If it weren't for the neocons who wanted Chalabi to lie, we wouldn't be there.

[Kolesar]

71. Exactly! .... eom

[Beetwasher]

59. The KEYSTONE COPS Do Nation Building

Then they contract it out to the three stooges...

[Imperialism Inc.]

66. Oldie but Goodie...

The Benny Hill Presidency
http://www.toostupidtobepresident.com/shockwave/bennyhill.htm

[maddezmom]

60. CNNI showing press conf now n/t

[sofa king]

68. Wolfowitz is fucked, too. This might be his parting gift to Chalabi.

It ain't just Chalabi who is being set up, it's Paul Wolfowitz. He had to tell the Senate on Tuesday that we (read: he) "miscalculated" the Iraq thing:

http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=1878250
http://www.thewest.com.au/20040520/news/general/tw-news-general-home-sto125228.html

It's starting to make a lot of sense, now. Someone in Bushco is looking for a head to roll. The usual scapegoat, Colin Powell, warned everyone off this week by telling too much of the truth and implying there might be more where that came from. Rumsfeld has a temporary get out of jail free card thanks to the President's little visit to the Pentagon last week. Condoleeza Rice is the ace in the hole as Cheney's replacement on the VP ticket. Dick Cheney sure as hell isn't going to take it because he's running the show. And nobody at this point, press or public, is willing to give credit to the President for doing the intellectual heavy lifting.

Thus the bottle stops at Paul Wolfowitz, whose only chance to come out of this fiasco with his reputation intact is by leaning on the sources he misused to justify this grand endeavor in the first place. That would be Chalabi, and maybe nobody else. The document-grab is an especially nice touch, because Wolfie can use that information to both resecure his power and damn others for his mistake, if necessary.

Look next for the stunning revelation that Chalabi was putting us on. No doubt Congressional leadership will be shocked and amazed as they slowly start backing toward the fire exit.

[Kolesar]

72. great sarcasm in that last sentence

Meanwhile the sheeple from coast to coast in the USA have no idea what happened or is going on.

[DinahMoeHum]

73. Douglas Feith could also "get the chop"

recent piece by Jim Lobe re Abu Graib prisoner abuse:
http://www.antiwar.com/lobe/?articleid=2614

(snip)
Although it will take weeks, if not months, to sort out precisely who was responsible for what increasingly appears to have been the systemic abuse by U.S. soldiers of Iraqi detainees, it should be no surprise if Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith is found to have played an important role.

Feith, who, according to Bob Woodward's new book, Plan of Attack, was described by the military commander who led last year's invasion, Gen. Tommie Franks, as ''the f---ing stupidest guy on the face of the earth," has been at the center of virtually everything else that has gone wrong in Iraq, so there is no reason to think he was very far from this one.
(snip)

:evilfrown:

[dArKeR]

70. Chalabi was once a favourite among neo-cons at the Pentagon - TGM

Increasingly critical Iraqi ally raided by U.S. troops

Baghdad — U.S. soldiers and Iraqi police surrounded the residence of Iraqi politician Ahmad Chalabi on Thursday, an aide said, ostensibly to search for fugitives.

But the aide, Haidar Musawi, accused the Americans of trying to pressure Mr. Chalabi, once a Pentagon favourite who has become openly critical of U.S. plans for how much power to transfer to the Iraqis on June 30.

Mr. Chalabi, a member of the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council, headed the exile Iraqi National Congress in the lead-up to the war. He was a strong advocate of toppling Saddam Hussein and his group is thought to have been the source for much of the intelligence the U.S. used when planning for the war.

http://theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040520.wraid0520/BNStory/International/

Wonder if Chalabi is the one who killed off his competition?

[goodhue]

78. more counter intelligence ops n/t

[Cooley Hurd]

79. Kick

Dupe-avoidance kick...:kick:

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

82. Don't rule out that it could be a ruse, designed to give Chalabi more

"street cred" among Iraqis so they don't blow him up so quick when he assumes his puppet throne.