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The only reason the Valeria Plame affair remains a big story is the small possibility that when U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald and the federal grand jury take action, any day now, it may reach into the Oval Office. That is, one or more indictments of government officials may lead to hard information that President Bush knew the Niger yellowcake story was pure propaganda, which helped him justify war with Iraq, when he used it in his 2003 State of the Union speech for that purpose. Fitzgerald has been keeping his cards close to his vest, but sources close to the...

Insurgent violence has taken a heavy toll on the U.S. in Iraq. A series of attacks earlier this month pushed the total of American fatalities past 1,800. The mounting casualties have shaken American confidence. Terrorism has hit Iraqis even harder. On Capitol Hill, there are bipartisan calls for the White House to establish a timeline for withdrawal. Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld has been floating trial balloons. Senior military officials and diplomats, meanwhile, seek to deflate the insurgency. They urge Iraqis to embrace and engage former Baathists, Islamists, and Arab Sunni rejectionists. If the Sunnis can be brought into the fold,...

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 5 Report says Israeli unit cracked Iranian code A secret intelligence unit, known as Unit 8200, broke a sophisticated Iranian code enabling Israel to monitor communications, including contacts with Pakistan regarding the development of Iranian nuclear weapons, The New Yorker reported on Tuesday. "On a trip to the Middle East last month, I was told that a number of years ago the Israeli signals-intelligence agency, known as Unit 8200, broke a sophisticated Iranian code and began monitoring communications that included talk between Iran and Pakistan about Iran's burgeoning nuclear weapons program," investigative reporter Seymour M. Hersh wrote....

Anti-U.S. Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, left, and Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Chalabi speak after a meeting in Najaf 160 kilometers (100 miles) south of Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, May 24, 2005. The meeting with Muqtada al-Sadr sought to defuse tension between Sunnis and majority Shiites after a recent series of sectarian killings. (AP Photo/Alaa al-Marjani)Iraqi Shi'ite leaders Moqtada al-Sadr (L), Ahmad Chalabi (C) and Abdel Karim Mahoud talk to reporters after meeting in the holy city of Najaf May 24, 2005. Chalabi and Mahoud travelled to Najaf from Baghdad for a briefing from Sadr on his attempts to mediate between...

Two items: [1] From Laurie Mylroie's "Iraq News" Newsletter - Tue, 17 May 2005 20:03:39 -0400 Subject: Michael Rubin, Prior Isikoff Use of Faulty Source From the list of Michael Rubin, previously at DoD and now at AEI (May 17, 2005): This was not the first time Michael Isikoff has used faulty or fabricated sources. In reporting the myth that Doug Feith’s office created its own intelligence unit, he relied on Karen Kwiatkowski, who associated with the Lyndon LaRouche movement. Kwiatkowski said on tape that she was Isikoff’s chief source. The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence’s Report on the U.S....

Ahmad Chalabi Takes Over Iraq Oil Ministry 2 hours, 31 minutes ago Iraq failed to name an oil minister for its new government on Thursday and controversial politician Ahmad Chalabi was appointed acting minister of an industry plagued by sabotage attacks and uncertainty. Chalabi, speaking to Reuters by telephone shortly after his appointment, said he might only be in the job for "a short time" but he pledged to work to ensure smooth exports and honor contracts struck by the previous government. With the oil market anxious to see Iraq move toward stability and offer steady crude supplies, Chalabi said:...

...[M]ore than 10 days after the bipartisan Robb-Silberman Commission debunked a major piece of the media's Iraq war narrative -- that Ahmed Chalabi's Iraqi National Congress played a major role in the bad intelligence on Saddam's WMDs -- almost none of the outlets that sold the story have seen fit to correct the record or explain their reporting. An honorable exception is NBC's Tim Russert, who in any case appears to have been guilty of nothing more that believing what he read in places like the Los Angeles Times and Newsweek. On Sunday's edition of "Meet the Press," Mr. Russert...

In 1987, after he was exonerated of corruption charges, former Secretary of Labor Raymond Donovan issued the classic plea of the wronged man: "Which office do I go to get my reputation back?" Whichever office it is, Ahmad Chalabi may want to apply there as well. The leader of the Iraqi National Congress has been the most unfairly maligned man on the planet in recent years. If you believe what you read, Chalabi is a con man, a crook and, depending on which day of the week it is, either an American or Iranian stooge. The most damning charge is...

How my child saved me from ego-driven mania Janine di Giovanni After years of reporting from the front line in war zones this war correspondent could not imagine doing any other job. Then along came her first baby — and everything changed RECENTLY a female reporter with a job similar to mine wrote an article about how having a child made her a better war correspondent. Despite the fact that she spent long periods away from him, she was proud that her son could point out Afghanistan on a globe and was baffled as to why he didn’t want to...

If you recall, the MSM, relying on unnamed sources repeatedly tarred the Iraqi National Congress and Ahmed Chalabi with being the source of false intelligence information on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. Leaving aside for the moment that those sources undoubtedly were located within the agencies that the Commission found responsible for the bad intelligence, it did clear the INC of these false claims--not that you'll know, unless you take the time to read the Commission Report. Page 108 of the Robb-Silverman Report states: "In fact, over all, CIA's post-war investigations revealed that INC-related sources had a minimal impact on...

[T]he 600-plus-page Robb-Silberman report on intelligence that was released yesterday. But one important conclusion worth noting, even on a quick reading, is that the report blows apart the myth that intelligence provided by Iraqi politician and former exile Ahmed Chalabi suckered the U.S. into going to war. That myth was a media and antiwar favorite last year, before the U.S. and Iraq elections, and when all of Washington thought President Bush was a one-termer. CIA and State Department sources peddled the idea that an Iraqi defector code-named "Curveball" had planted bad information about Saddam's WMD.... The promoters of some version...

The FBI is investigating the fatal shooting in Iraq of a U.S. contractor from Washington County who had accused Iraqi military officials of corruption days before his death. Dale Stoffel, 43, of Monongahela, was shot to death Dec. 8 in a roadside ambush while returning to Baghdad after discussing the corruption claims with coalition military officials at a northern Iraqi military base. Stoffel's business associate, Joseph Wemple, 49, of Orlando, Fla., also was killed. The killings came after Stoffel alerted senior U.S. officials in Washington that Iraqi Defense Ministry officials were part of a kickback scheme involving a multimillion-dollar contract...

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Shi'ite Muslim and Kurdish politicians are nearing agreement on forming Iraq's next government, officials from the two sides said Tuesday. "We expect to sign a declaration in the next few days on general principles that include dealing with the city of Kirkuk according to the interim constitution," Mohammad Bahr al-Uloum, a member of the majority Shi'ite bloc in parliament told Reuters.

On July 14, 2002, the Iraqi media commemorated the demise of the Hashemite monarchy in Iraq 44 years ago. The last Hashemite king in Iraq was 23 year-old King Faisal II who was assassinated at the hands of army officers led by General Abd Al-Karim Qassim who carried out the military coup of 1958. Under the auspices of the Iraqi National Congress (the main Iraqi opposition in exile), a group of about 70 former Iraqi army officers met in London on July 12, 2002 to chart the course for overthrowing Saddam Hussein's regime and installing a new regime dedicated...

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Feb. 22 - Ibrahim al-Jaafari, a Shiite doctor with an Islamist bent, was chosen Tuesday by the victorious Shiite alliance as its candidate to become Iraq's new prime minister. The decision may well open a period of protracted and rancorous negotiations with a coalition of secular leaders intent on sharply curtailing Dr. Jaafari's powers or blocking him and his clerical-backed coalition. Ayad Allawi, the current prime minister, and Barham Salih, a Kurdish politician and deputy prime minister, said in separate interviews on Tuesday that without guarantees renouncing sectarianism and embracing Western democratic ideals they were poised to block...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Interim Iraqi Vice President Ibrahim al-Jaafari was chosen Tuesday to be his Shiite ticket's candidate for prime minister after Ahmad Chalabi dropped his bid, senior alliance officials said. Pressure from within the ranks of the winning United Iraqi Alliance forced the withdrawal of Chalabi, a one-time Pentagon (news - web sites) favorite, said Hussein al-Moussai from the Shiite Political Council, an umbrella group for 38 Shiite parties. "They wanted him to withdraw. They didn't want to push the vote to a secret ballot," al-Moussawi said. The 140 members were to put the decision between Chalabi and al-Jaafari...

BAGHDAD - Ahmad Chalabi, a secular Shiite once known for his ties to Washington, and Ibrahim al-Jaafari, the conservative interim vice president, will face off in a secret ballot Tuesday to determine who will be the Shiite majority's choice for Iraqi prime minister, officials said. The decision to hold a secret ballot came after the clergy-backed United Iraqi Alliance, which has most of the seats in the 275-member National Assembly, was unable to decide on a nominee -- despite days of negotiations. Chalabi spokesman Haidar al-Moussawi said the most powerful man in predominantly Shiite Iraq, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, met...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Ahmad Chalabi, a secular Shiite once known for his ties to Washington, and Ibrahim al-Jaafari, the conservative interim vice president, will face off in a secret ballot Tuesday to determine who will be the Shiite majority's choice for Iraqi prime minister, officials said. The decision to hold a secret ballot came after the clergy-backed United Iraqi Alliance, which has most of the seats in the 275-member National Assembly, was unable to decide on a nominee - despite days of negotiations. Chalabi spokesman Haidar al-Moussawi said the most powerful man in predominantly Shiite Iraq, Grand Ayatollah Ali...

Controversial Iraqi politician Ahmed Chalabi says he believes he has the votes to become the war-torn country's new prime minister. Mr Chalabi, once supported by the United States only to fall from favour, is part of the Shiite United Iraqi Alliance (UIA) list that won 140 seats of the 275-member national assembly in the January 30 elections. "I believe I have a majority of the [UIA] votes on my side right now" to become the new government's prime minister, Mr Chalabi told United States ABC television. However, the former exile remained cautious, saying the choice of premier "will be decided...

Chalabi set to become Iraq's PM ORLY HALPERN, THE JERUSALEM POST Feb. 18, 2005 Ahmed Chalabi is likely to emerge as Iraq's leader, as originally envisioned by the US, Dan Senor, the former spokesman for the US occupation government in Iraq, told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday. "He has a good chance of getting the job," said Senor. The Iraqi premiership race is now between two seasoned 58-year-old Shi'ite politicians from within the United Iraqi Alliance (UIA), a Shi'ite list that won the most votes in the elections. One is Chalabi, the secular leader of the Iraqi National Congress. The...