Minnesota Liberal

Thursday, June 03, 2004

Haven't I Heard This Before?

The whole Chalabi mess is really starting to blow up. But now that we have proof he is a crook and a liar... let's take a look at what was being written back in 2001.

Excerpts are taken from:

The New York Times December 3, 2001 Monday Late Edition - Final
Section A; Column 3; Foreign Desk; Pg. 9
Calls for New Push Into Iraq Gain Power in Washington
By ELAINE SCIOLINO and ALISON MITCHELL

In September, the secretary of defense's office of protocol invited Ahmed Chalabi, the Iraqi who heads the London-based Iraqi National Congress, and Khidhir Hamza, a former director of Iraq's nuclear weapons program, to brief the policy group.

"Rumsfeld was in and out of the meetings and he offered a general statement of support for us," said Francis Brooke, the Washington adviser to the exiles who also attended the meeting. "He said, 'We're with you. Don't worry.' He and Ahmed are good friends."

Neither Secretary Powell nor George J. Tenet, the director of central intelligence, who have grave reservations about Mr. Chalabi's leadership, knew that the Iraqis were there, senior administration officials said. "It's outrageous that these guys were there," said one senior administration official. "They could end up influencing policy."


If there were concerns being raised about his credibility and leadership back in 2001, why did it take so long for our government to throw him out on his ass when the intelligence he provided us was proven faulty. Not only did they keep him around, but they were paying him $340,000 a month to tell us lies.

Now that Bush and company are cutting ties to him... maybe he will spill the beans on all their dirty secrets. Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo is already reporting that he has a stash of dirty info on the bunch.

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