Chalabi stirs Iraq war controversy on U.S. visit

Chalabi stirs Iraq war controversy on U.S. visit

09 Nov 2005 18:49:49 GMT

Source: Reuters
Chalabi will also speak at the pro-Bush American Enterprise Institute, where war opponents plan a demonstration. Two Democrats, Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois and Rep. George Miller of California, asked the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is probing prewar intelligence failures, to subpoena Chalabi for testimony. By Carol Giacomo, Diplomatic Correspondent WASHINGTON, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Iraqi deputy prime minister Ahmad Chalabi met U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Wednesday, stirring Iraq war critics who denounced the visit of the man most associated with discredited prewar intelligence. The apparent rehabilitation of Chalabi in U.S. eyes ahead of Iraqi elections next month added new fire to a growing U.S. debate over President George W. Bush's conduct of the war, which has contributed to a deep dive in Bush's public approval ratings. While the visit seems to come at a particularly inopportune time for Bush, U.S. officials rebuffed suggestions that they were rolling out a red carpet for Chalabi, saying they would not treat him than any differently than any other Iraqi officials in the run-up to the Dec. 15 elections. "He's an elected member of the Iraqi government and he has a portfolio that includes economic policy, essential services, infrastructure, the budget and he will be meeting with his counterparts on those areas and the bilateral issues," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said. Chalabi is also due to meet Vice President Dick Cheney and National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley while in Washington. Speaking to reporters after the half-hour session with Rice, Chalabi denied giving U.S. officials false intelligence about Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction and said the focus should be on the future. "It's always more important to look to the future than to the past," he said. He said Rice was "very gracious" and they agreed on key issues concerning Iraq's political and economic development. Although she received Chalabi in her State Department office, Rice did not appear publicly with him, underscoring the political sensitivity of the meeting. U.S. officials said Chalabi came to Washington at this time because he was invited by Treasury Secretary John Snow. But Snow is traveling in India all week. Adel Abdul Mahdi, an Iraqi vice president, is also in Washington this week. DEMOCRATS SEEK SUBPOENA "Here we have a man accused of selling secrets to the enemy, to Iran, and endangering American troops and where do we find Ahmad Chalabi today? He is being hosted and feted by this administration," Durbin said in a speech to the U.S. Senate on Tuesday. Chalabi has denied the Iran charges. He is a former U.S. golden boy who for years as an exile helped organize opposition to Saddam through the Iraqi National Congress, which was funded by the United States. He was taken into Iraq by the American forces, along with an armed group of supporters, as Washington tried to build a new power structure in the weeks after the 2003 invasion. But he soon fell into disfavor, targeted with allegations that he betrayed U.S. secrets to Iran. The wealthy Chalabi proved himself to be a remarkable political survivor. His talent for networking and building alliances with the powerful Islamist leaders of the Shi'ite majority helped get him named deputy prime minister earlier this year, with special responsibility for Iraq's oil industry. Though he lacks any mass appeal, some U.S. diplomats even cite the secular Shi'ite as a possible compromise candidate for prime minister in a coalition government. The visit comes days after Cheney's former chief of staff, Lewis Libby, was charged in the investigation over the leaking of a CIA operative's identity and as the Senate Intelligence Committee revives a probe into prewar intelligence failures. Long a controversial figure, Chalabi, fled Jordan during a banking scandal and denied any wrongdoing stemming from a conviction in absentia on charges of embezzlement after Petra bank collapsed in 1989, shaking Jordan's financial system. Iraq's national assembly to be elected in December is charged with appointing a four-year government and would be able to make changes to the Constitution passed last month. Chalabi recently broke with an Islamist-dominated Iraqi coalition and announced he intended to follow a more secular political course.

AlertNet news is provided by