Well, well, well. Looks like Chalabi's up to more mischief!

[robertpaulsen]

Chalabi involved US, Iran policy making again, current and former intelligence officials say

Larisa Alexandrovna
Published: Monday May 1, 2006

Enter Chalabi, Again

Ahmed Chalabi, the man who helped provide cooked intelligence on Iraq to the Pentagon and the New York Times in the lead-up to war, is once again being engaged in US policy decisions, current and former intelligence officials say.

According to two former high level counterintelligence officials, one former senior counterterrorist official and another intelligence officer, Chalabi is acting as broker between the US Ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, and Iranian officials in what are now stalled diplomatic efforts between the US and Iran.

" Chalabi inserted himself and brought a proposal to Zel," one intelligence source said.

Intelligence officials say the proposal that Chalabi delivered asked both the US and Iran to focus diplomatic talks on the Iraqi insurgency, leaving all discussion of Iran's nuclear program off the table. The talks, however, are now stalled.

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Chalabi_0501.html

Wow, wasn't he outed as an Iranian spy just a couple years ago? And now working with PNACer Khalilzad? Who would have thought?

:sarcasm:

[On the Road]

1. Strangely Enough,

It might actually be a good thing that Chalabi is involved. He is one guy with close ties to Iran that the Bush administration actually listens to. You would think he doesn't want a war to break out, possible destroying his role as an intermediary.

The other option, of course, is that Chalabi would like to provoke a war in order to get an influential post in a new US-backed goverment.

I guess it depends on the likelihood of the US installing a new government. Seems to be unlikely from my point of view, but who knows what madness lurks in these people's minds?

[robertpaulsen]

2. I guess either scenario is a possibility.

But considering what he tried to do to Bob Baer, I wouldn't trust Chalabi to give me the correct time of day. His loyalty may be to Iran, but bottom line, the only thing Chalabi really seems to respect is power. I think he's still hitching his train to the PNAC agenda.

[madinmaryland]

3. Considering he gave bogus info to start the the Iraq war,

I would expect him to do the same thing with Iran.

A two-bit con-man.

[robertpaulsen]

4. I expect that too.

Here's the dirt on Chalabi from rightweb:

Highlights & Quotes

Ahmed Chalabi, head of the Iraqi National Congress (INC), leading member of the Iraqi Governing Council, and the poster boy of neoconservative policy wonks, is a Shiite Muslim who was born to a wealthy banking family in Iraq. At the age of 12, his family left Iraq. Although Chalabi has spent most of his life in the West, he has remained closely involved in Middle East affairs. But his activities, as well as his close association with the Bush administration, have made him an extremely unpopular figure in the region.

In the mid-1990s, his INC tried to organize an uprising in Kurdish areas of Iraq. When the effort failed and hundreds of supporters were killed, Chalabi and many of his INC cohorts fled the country. Earlier, in 1992, after his Petra Bank folded, Chalabi was sentenced in absentia by a Jordanian court for bank fraud. Chalabi has repeatedly insisted that he is innocent and says the bank’s failure was orchestrated by former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. (1), (2), (4)

According to a Washington Post article, the Pentagon’s faith in Chalabi as a potential Iraqi leader, despite his 45-year absence from the country, caused war planners to ignore State Department warnings about the lack of support for Chalabi in the country and overlook the emergence of a radical, fundamentalist Shiite political base in the country. Said one unnamed official: “They really did believe he is a Shiite leader. ... They thought, ‘We’re set, we’ve got a Shiite -- check the box here.’” Walter P. Lang, a former Defense Intelligence Agency specialist in Middle East affairs, told the newspaper, “We’re flying blind on this. It’s a classic case of politics and intelligence. In this case, the political community have (sic) absolutely whipped the intel community, or denigrated it so much.” (3)

Regarding Chalabi’s supporters in Washington, journalist Robert Dreyfus wrote: “Team Chalabi is led by Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz and Richard Perle, the neoconservative strategist who heads the Pentagon's Defense Policy Board. Chalabi's partisans run the gamut from far right to extremely far right, with key supporters in most of the Pentagon's Middle-East policy offices -- such as Peter Rodman, Douglas Feith, David Wurmser and Michael Rubin. Also included are key staffers in Vice President Dick Cheney's office, not to mention Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and former CIA Director Jim Woolsey. The Washington partisans who want to install Chalabi in Arab Iraq are also those associated with the staunchest backers of Israel, particularly those aligned with the hard-right faction of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Chalabi's cheerleaders include the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP) and the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA).” (2)

http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/1068

[On the Road]

7. He Gave Bogus Information

because he thought he could become president of the new Iraq. He'll obvious lie to pursue his interest -- just questioning where his interests lie right now.

No matter how tied he is to the neocons, somehow I can't believe Chalabi would really think that the US would invade Iran successfully and install him as a leader. Anything short of that weakens his current position. He's over there, and knows the realities better than anyone on this side of the ocean.

[stop the bleeding]

5. This is getting to be really annoying

thanks rp for the link

[robertpaulsen]

6. No problemo, stb.

MSM is just asleep at the wheel, as usual.

[KamaAina]

8. You'd almost think Chalabi was working for Iran all along

Oh, right, he was working for Iran all along. :eyes: