In short, was Bush duped into going to war on behalf of a foreign power? The Wall St. Journal, if you ignore the editorial pages, has some of the best reporting in America. They have two intriguing facts about Ahmed Chalabi today whose implications are positively stunning.
In the story Chalabi Accuses CIA of Smear (subscription required), they report
"Mr. Chalabi had ample reason to supply the U.S. with information and topple the Saddam regime. But in the aftermath of last week's raid, questions are now arising on whether some of the bad intelligence was provided by Iranian officials, with whom Mr. Chalabi has had long contacts, to dupe the U.S. into invading Teheran's longtime enemy."
This isn't sourced, but is likely from a CIA contact. Wouldn't Iran back a plan that would virtually guarantee the creation of a Shia state in Iraq?
Secondly, in the same article, the report describes how the Coalition Authority and the Army nearly came to blows over Chalabi.
"Cutting off the money appears to be linked to the decision to raid Mr. Chalabi's compound, which ostensibly was conducted as part of an investigation into the theft of 17 automobiles from the Iraqi government."
"The administration official familiar with the case said the Coalition Provisional Authority and its head Paul Bremer, attempted to serve the warrant weeks ago but were driven off the premises by U.S. military officers. (my italics)
"When the Pentagon cut off the money it also withdrew the intelligence officers, and Iraqi police ..buttressed by agents from the CIA and the FBI, served the warrant.
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Finally, the New York Times is reporting U.S. Steps Up Hunt in Leaks to Iraqi Exile "The information that Ahmad Chalabi, the Iraqi exile leader, is believed to have passed to Iran was so highly classified that federal investigators have intensified their inquiry to find out whether anyone in the American government gave the material to Mr. Chalabi, government officials said Sunday." "Federal investigators now suspect that Mr. Chalabi funneled a wide array of Pentagon and C.I.A. secrets to Iran -- much more material than they believe he might have obtained through his political contacts with Americans, they said. "This was not the kind of stuff that he would have gotten by accident," one official said. "Intelligence officials have said the investigation centers on a handful of officials in Washington and Iraq who dealt regularly with Mr. Chalabi, and an even smaller number who also had access to the compromised information. Most of them are at the Pentagon, which was Mr. Chalabi's main point of contact with the Bush administration." ----- We now have the prospect of wide open warfare between different branches of government, since the Iraq invasion and the aftermath of Sept. 11th may shatter the effectiveness of the CIA and the Army. Apparently the Sept. 11th commission is going to issue a scathing report about George Tenet, CIA head. In this atmosphere, so much is likely to come out that pressure for a full investigation will become overwhelming, if there is political power to bring it about. And the result could well be the judgment that George Bush was the most traitorous U.S. president in history. Students may look back on him with horror, unable to fathom how an American president could so damage our country by falling in the thrall of a foreign power. |
