Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Chalabi talks to reporters outside of the State Department in Washington after a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2005. (AP Photo/Yuri Gripas)
Posted on 11/09/2005 4:08:51 PM PST by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON - Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Chalabi offered Wednesday to be questioned by the Senate on his role in prewar Iraq but refused to apologize for fueling allegations that Saddam Hussein had hidden caches of weapons of mass destruction.
Accorded a warm reception by the Bush administration, Chalabi lined up Vice President Dick Cheney and five Cabinet officers, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld, for meetings this week and next.
Chalabi, whose reputation in Washington has soared, fallen and now revived, was welcomed by administration officials whom he briefed on Iraq's reconstruction efforts, particularly on energy and financial issues.
But on Capitol Hill, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Rep. George Miller (news, bio, voting record), D-Calif., urged the Senate and House intelligence committees to subpoena Chalabi regarding allegations that he provided false information about Saddam's weapons and leaked U.S. secrets to Iran.
Sens. Durbin, Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., and Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt., told Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales that Chalabi should be sitting down with FBI investigators rather than meeting with Cabinet secretaries.
"Will the FBI interview Mr. Chalabi during his visit to the United States?" the senators asked in a letter. "If not, why not?"
On the House side, Rep. Henry Waxman (news, bio, voting record), D-Calif., wrote Rep. Christopher Shays (news, bio, voting record), R-Conn., that if allegations that Chalabi leaked intelligence to Iran are true, he "has betrayed U.S. interests, caused incalculable damage to our national security and contributed to the death of more than 2,000 troops." Waxman urged Shays to cancel a private briefing with Chalabi and instead hold a public hearing in which Chalabi would testify under oath.
The Senate Intelligence Committee already is looking into how the U.S. intelligence community used information provided by the Iraqi National Congress, with which Chalabi was long affiliated, said a spokeswoman for Sen. Pat Roberts (news, bio, voting record), the committee's chairman.
Roberts, R-Kan., hopes to provide a detailed report on what information the exile group provided and what effect, if any, it had on U.S. policy-makers, said spokeswoman Sarah Little said, quoting Roberts.
Meanwhile, despite Chalabi's offer to be questioned by the Senate, he has not contacted the intelligence committee to provide any information, Little said.
Justice Department and FBI officials said they had not seen the three senators' letter requesting the FBI question to Chalabi and had no immediate comment.
At a news conference, Chalabi denied giving Iran information that compromised U.S. security.
But he said he had offered last year to be questioned, and added, "I am prepared to go the Senate and respond to questions."
At the same time, Chalabi refused to apologize for advising the Bush administration that Saddam had arsenals of weapons of mass destruction.
"We are sorry for every American life that was lost in Iraq," he said. "As for deliberately misleading, this is an urban myth."
In a 45-minute speech at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, Chalabi sketched a hopeful scenario for Iran's economy, including a vast surge in oil production and eradication of corruption.
However, he said rebuilding Iraq's security force was going slowly and U.S. and other troops should remain. He gave no timetable.
The Iraqi army, Chalabi said, had no more potent weapons than submachine guns while the country is surrounded by neighbors with large weapons arsenals.
Even while making senior administration officials available to Chalabi, the Bush administration appeared a bit self-conscious.
"It's not up to us to pick the leaders of Iraq," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said after announcing that Chalabi also would have access to Cheney and national security adviser Stephen Hadley.
Rice met with him for about 30 minutes. It was an opportunity mostly to discuss energy and finance issues, which Chalabi oversees in Baghdad, said State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli.
Chalabi said the meeting went "very well." He brushed aside reporters' questions on whether he gave the Bush administration misleading information before the war, saying, "It's more important to look to the future than to the past."
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On the Net:
State Department: http://www.state.gov
CIA Factbook on Iraq: http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/iz.html
Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Chalabi talks to reporters outside of the State Department in Washington after a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2005. (AP Photo/Yuri Gripas)
This should be nothing but fun.
WOOOOOO, thats gonna leave a mark.
Do you suppose the MSM will really listen?
Anyone else get the feeling this guy was a victim of the clinton CIA leftovers vs Bush White House war?
Chalabi verified what Clinton had been saying for years. He wasn't about to change his story.
I always wondered whether the Iran thing was a way for him to distance himself from us to advance his career.
I propose they have secret hearings and flog in public anyone who leaks any of the testimony on the front steps of the Capitol.
I second that. 10 lashes minimum!
This should be fun
Looks like one of the weapons of mass destruction is coming out of Iraq afterall.
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