Posted on 08/28/2005 9:11:54 PM PDT by goldstategop
So, under the most trying conditions, the master coalition-builder crafted the Shiite-led United Iraqi Alliance that shocked our spooks and diplomats by dominating the January election. The other big winners--Shiite religious leader Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, and Kurdish leaders Talabani and Massoud Barzani--turned out to be the very same group Mr. Chalabi had united under the banner of his Iraqi National Congress in the '90s, and which had widely been written off as "exiles." Mr. Chalabi had enough support to make a credible bid for the prime minister's post, only to drop out in the face of strong U.S.-Iranian lobbying (what's "strange bedfellows" in Farsi?) for the Islamist, Ibrahim al-Jafaari, who has proven to be an ineffectual leader at best. ...
The more important story, the real determinant of whether Iraq stands or falls, is the political one. And a key player is a man countless powerful people around the world have wished would go away. Of course, there are no "indispensable men"--De Gaulle famously remarked that the graveyards are full of them--but Mr. Chalabi is as close as you come among Iraq's political class. He sees the powerful Shiite Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani regularly; he is trusted by the Kurds, and, to the extent anyone is, by Sadr; and he put forth a constitutional oil-sharing proposal that has a chance of making federalism acceptable to the Sunnis. It is telling that he was one of the last people huddled with Zalmay Khalilzad in the wee hours of Saturday, when the U.S. ambassador finally gave the go-ahead to announce an agreement. ...
The question now is whether his bosses in Washington are mature enough to put aside past mistakes and work with Mr. Chalabi. They certainly no longer have to worry about him being written off as an American puppet.
(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
I've always thought that American accusations of him conspiring with Iran were probably purposeful to allow him to separate from the image of being an American puppet and to go his own way.
Ahmed Chalabi will go down in history as the great man of Iraq autonomy. I hope that when the country selects its first Prime Minister post-Constitution, Ahmed Chalabi will be selected. He is a courageous man who is relentlessly committed to his country.
I've always thought that American accusations of him conspiring with Iran were purposeful attempts to discredit and possibly kill him, so that the Arabists in the State Department could resume their obeisance to Saudi oil interests and stability over liberty.
Clearly, "what didn't kill him made him stronger."
agree.
Chalabi was always an asset.
It is painful to read that his INC had important intel that could have saved US lives but the CIA nixed him.
Pollock is on the John Bachelor show now. Listening...
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