Jordan Tip Exposed Chalabi as Iran "Spy"

Ahmed Chalabi
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May 22, 2004 -- WASHINGTON - Jordan's King Abdullah fueled the U.S. move against Iraqi leader Ahmed Chalabi by providing bombshell intelligence that his group was spying for Iran, The Post has learned.
An explosive dossier that the Jordanian monarch recently brought with him to White House sessions with President Bush detailed Mafia-style extortion rackets and secret information on U.S. military operations being passed to Iran, diplomats said.

That new information led to the Bush administration's decision to stop its $340,000-a-month payments to Chalabi's Iraqi National Congress and back an aggressive Iraqi criminal probe into his activities.

The file was compiled by Jordan's intelligence service, which has had an interest in Chalabi since the 1990s, when the Iraqi exile leader was convicted in absentia for embezzling millions of dollars.


more at: http://www.nypost.com/news/worldnews/21412.htm


This helps explain the timing of all this. Right after Abdullahs visit, Chalabi got cut off.

I seem to remember reading articles that an insider was leaking information to Iran about the bush team planitng WMD in Iraq.

How did Chilabi obtain those?

I remember that too.

If this isn't a major parable with a major lesson regarding the negative aspects of cronyism, I don't know what is.

wait until now to present this info to Bu$h?

Why didn't he tell Bu$h before we invaded Iraq based on Chalabi's lies? Or was it that Bu$h didn't want to hear about it then?

He tries to be our ally. He has all the problems of the Palestinians.

He tries to deal with terrorists through the courts. He is a secular king, and he has to deal with all the fundamentalist elements in his own society.

On top of that, his country borders, among others, Israel and Iraq. He is maintaining a tough balancing act in one of the most dangerous parts of the world.

Chalabi was tried in absentia in Jordan for bank fraud. If we know that here at DU, certainly at least a few of the idiots in the Bush administration knew it, too. If we were decent allies to the Jordanians, we would have handed Chalabi over to them, so he could serve his prison sentence.

Maybe King Abdullah did not have all the documentation about Chalabi's spying until recently. Or, maybe he did try to tell shrub about it in the past, and got no response.

Maybe this was just the most opportune moment for Abdullah to come forward with the information. After all, he does have to put his country's interests first.

I think we have been pretty rotten to the Jordanians. Remember, Abdullah did postpone his visit, after we insulted the middle east by changing our stance toward Israel and the Palestinians, a stance we had for about the last fifty years.

I hope Kerry sits down with Abdullah when he is President. I think he would be a good man to have a friendship with in that part of the world.

and I am sure, he is one of the few that was brave enough, to try to tell Bu$h it was a mistake to invade Iraq, But of course Bu$h could care less. He had already made up his mind in Jan. 2001.

The point is that the press is trying to make it look like this is new news. That Abdullah just came forward recently with this explosive information. I think Abdullah has been telling Bu$h all along about Chalabi. Just one more smoking gun.

Abdullah probably knew all along about the relationship between Bush and Chalabi and only until Bush announced Chalabi would lead the new Iraqi gov, did he act to prevent the handover to a known agent.

Bush only hires CRIMINALS... and only fires them when it becomes common knowledge.

Unless we're talking about a Constitutional Monarchy like the UK, I'm repeatedly appalled that Americans have this myopic (People Magazine) love affair with "Royalty." The whole notion of Totalitarian Power by Inheritance is obscene, imho. If Abdullah were a "good" King, Jordan would promptly become a Constitutional Monarchy with the King having a ceremonial role only.

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... "like the UK."

Both the UK and Jordan are termed "constitutional monarchies" but have vast differences that mask enormous autocratic powers of Jordan's monarch. Sadly, the taxonomy for forms of government make no titular distinction.

In the UK, the Prime Minister is chosen (typically the leader of the majority party after an election) by the Legislature.
In Jordan, the Prime Minister is chosen by the King. Furthermore, in Jordan the King has the unilateral power to dissolve the House of Representatives and has done so several times since 1974; in November 1989, the first parliamentary elections in 22 years were held; political parties were not legalized until 1992; and King Abdallah delayed the 2001 elections until 2003.

This is power that DimSon George II lusts after. Anyone who's a fan of Jordan's form of government is also an ally of the Busholini regime. I don't give a rat's ass whether Abdallah and his half-brother Hamzah are nice guys, cretins, or pure assholes ... monarchs are inherently bad news. How many fucking millenia of history and bloody revolutions does it take for some people to beg, borrow, or steal a clue?

Oh, and I don't particulary give a fuck what Lisa Halaby thinks, either. Her studies were in architecture and urban planning, certainly not political science or history and definitely not philosophy.

from the very beginning to persuade Bush not to go to war and to point out that Chalabi was a fraud. Bush as we all know has a habit of not listening to good advice, especially when he was hell bent on going to war in the first place. And the media was complicit - I could not believe the ignorance when an MSNBC studio announcer covering Bush's trip to Jordon, was wondering who "that guy" was and complaining that he (Abdullah) needed to stop speaking and let Bush speak instead!
It is only now when Bush's political butt is cooked he's beginning to listen, and also, I suspect that only in these recent months has Abdullah been able to gather hard evidence on Chalabi and his cronies to present.

during his recent visit. Oh, to be a fly on the wall of the Oval Office!

We lock up innocent Iraqi civilians in Abu Ghraib for no reason. Why is Chalabi still a free man?

Beats the heck outta me!
:shrug:

I am glad to see that turd Chalabi go but isn't it getting annoying that for all the money we have put into 'intel' the FBI and CIA that we end up relying on intel from other countries which turns out eventually to be wrong?

in the eventual elections? In those elections, friendship with the US will amount to the kiss of death. For long and long, Chalabi has been making anti-American noises, to boost his standing in Iraqi polls...ever since it became apparent the US was'nt going to be allowed to install puppets, and that Iraqi's were going to have to be allowed to vote.

So now he is an Iranian spy? The Shia in Iraq just have to vote for him now, don't they? Not! This is so transparent a child could come up with a better scheme. It is laughable. Iraqi's will not buy it.

Look which paper is breaking this story, and who is involved. The King of Jordan? King of US Flunkys, more like.

Look. It goes back to why we are fighting this war. Because of terrorists? No. Oil? No.

Not surprisingly, this is a war over MONEY. More specifically, what currency will the oil be paid for in. In November 2000, I think it was, Saddam flushed all the dollars from his Forex account, and would only accept payment for his oil in Euros. His days were numbered from that day forward...you see, oil producers unwillingness to accept payment in any currency but dollars are what really underlies the dollars strength...how the US can run such huge trade deficits and humongous national debts, when no other nation on the planet CAN!... Chavez in Venezuela trading oil as a commodity for other commodities, and thereby bypassing the dollar, are why HE is on the shitlist, IMO.

Anyway, Chalabi has always been, and will continue to be, 'our' crooked-ass international banker-type, who is going to guarantee the oil is paid for in dollars. Because that is our bottom line...we do not care who gets the oil, we do not care if Iraq is a Theocracy, we do not give a DAMN about democracy in Iraq-but by God, anyone buying Iraqi oil WILL pay for it in good ole US dollars.

Can you imagine what would happen if all the nations of the world flushed dollars from their Foreign Exchange accouts, and went to another currency? Well some of them have-Russia-and that is one reason why inflation is heating up...

Ask yourself why the US can run the kind of deficits we do, and no one else apparently can...then do a little research on money, and who controls it, and much will be explained about ongoing events in the middle-east and elsewhere.

People, it is all about money. Surprise, surprise.

. . . I agree with every word. It remains to be seen if Chalabi is still Bush's puppet or if he is indeed going rogue. That is yet to be determined by the highest bidder.

A Dangerous Dreamer
Spurned by the U.S., Chalabi emerges as a Shiite firebrand

By Andrew Cockburn

<snip>

As one Iraqi who has known and worked with Chalabi in the past observes: "His dream has always been to be a sectarian Shia leader. Not in the religious sense, but as a political leader." Leading fellow sectarians in opposition to the U.S. and U.N. plans would be a vital step in realizing this dangerous dream.

No one should take Chalabi and his ambitions lightly. This is the man who for years waged a determined struggle to draw the U.S. into war with Iraq — even as he was abandoned and derided by his original sponsors at the CIA — and he ultimately succeeded.

<snip>

Sooner or later, Sadr is going to be killed, one well-informed Iraqi told me, which would leave thousands of his supporters adrift, looking for a new leader. If Chalabi plays the role of victim (of the Americans) he can take on that role.

Many people, including Saddam Hussein and members of the CIA, have counted Chalabi out at various times over the years. By now, his former allies in Washington must realize that he has the skills and resources to cause enormous damage in pursuit of his ambition. As his former associate notes, "he is a gambler, ready to bring it all down."

The irony is, of course, that having a U.S. gun to his head, as his nephew reports happened during the raid, will only further burnish his credentials among those Shiites he aims to lead into a divided Iraq.

More: http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-oe-cockburn21may21,1,3189784.story

TYY

If Iran is helping to orchestrate the insurgency, this certainly would explain their sophistication and how they have so easily killed high value targets. I wouldn't be surprised if the carnage drops off with Chalabi out of the picture.

I posted a Breaking News story on this general subject last night .... Here's the thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=573463&mesg_id=573463

The headline on my web site, www.Earthside.com is that this is a bomshell story. Newsday reported last night an item that goes along with what the Jordanian king revealed.

Defense Intelligence Agency: Chalabi Group was Front for Iran
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-uschal0522%2C0%2C340595.story?coll=ny-top-span-headlines

"The Defense Intelligence Agency has concluded that a U.S.-funded arm of Ahmed Chalabi's Iraqi National Congress has been used for years by Iranian intelligence to pass disinformation to the United States and to collect highly sensitive American secrets, according to intelligence sources.

*** "Iranian intelligence has been manipulating the United States through Chalabi by furnishing through his Information Collection Program information to provoke the United States into getting rid of Saddam Hussein," said an intelligence source Friday who was briefed on the Defense Intelligence Agency's conclusions, which were based on a review of thousands of internal documents. ***

The Information Collection Program also "kept the Iranians informed about what we were doing" by passing classified U.S. documents and other sensitive information, he said. The program has received millions of dollars from the U.S. government over several years."

This is a BIG development. But as of yet, I'm not hearing much about this on the cable news channels. Perhaps will will take more time for it to sink into the Washington insiders that what this means is that Bush, the neocons, and the radical Republicans were willing sucker for Chalabi and the Iranians.

Boy, with 800 troops killed in Iraq and thousands of civilains, it seems to me that this gets close to treason by incompetence and negligence.

:evilfrown:

I am personally finding it difficult to believe that Chalabi could have been doing all this without our intelligence agencies knowing anything about it.

I am skeptical.

or the news from any source about him. He's still on the Council..making decisions...getting special treatment...and did we pay him the 350k a month in addition to any pay for being on the council?

Was he entitled to any or all sensitive info on the troops? Are all of the Council members given that info or just this thug?

I think Chalabi still works for the US.
He loves money above all else.

They had their minds made up to invade iraq and "democratize" the region. And take their oil.

I wouldn't doubt that they were told some of this before the invasion. They didn't want to hear it because it clashed with what they wanted to do.

I don't know if this rises to the level of treason, but it sure does meet the test for criminal negligence.

,...which is different from "ignoring" it. Bush ordered/authorized the raid of Chalabi's premises.

I just can't help but wonder whether Chalabi is being used as a patsy. Don't get me wrong, he is a criminal and an ass who should be serving his sentence in Jordan.

However, I would be absolutely shocked if our intelligence community and those who have control over it (e.g. the neocons) did NOT have knowledge IF this crimminal buttwipe was passing on "classified" information to Iran and was allowing Iran to use him to manipulate the neocons. I mean, c'mon. The neocons are way too calculating and strategic and intelligent to actually "trust" Chalabi with classified information.

It just,...it's just a little too suspect for me to believe that this is some kind of sudden revelation or that it is even true under such circumstances. Personally, I think this is a set-up by the neocons to manipulate to their desire, whatever that may be.

and still suspect the possibility of their trying to work a manipulative sleight of hand. However, they seem to be unable to control things anymore. Beyond that - their slieght of hands two years ago as they staged the "case" over a period of months for the war with Iraq - wasn't very elegant - it was very obvious to those who were watching closely. Here at Du on LBN - we watched the pattern of bogus news break (e.g., "al qeada training camps in Iraq!!!") that would be debunked internationally in the news within 24-72 hours (including the "sexed up" dossier from Britain) - but in the US press it wouldn't be debunked... but the story would DROP they wouldn't keep repeating it (remember the "found" nuke material crates being shipped through Turkey... that was clumsy)... sadly while the story was dropped - the collective power of suggestion between the repeated lies and the lies that got dropped (but there was many of them giving a public perception of MASS problems) had its impact.

My point being, is that when we look back, there games were pretty clumsy to begin with. Now, they are panicked and more like bulls in a china shop. If this is a set-up by them - it will blow up in their faces as things have been doing with more frequency. If it isn't - then one has to go with Trof's assessment - and this is yet another case (which is very consistent) of their turning a blind eye and shutting down dissent by those who would bring information to them that was contrary to their blinded "group think" story-line. They are giving the public, if the public cares to pay attention, an object lesson in the dangers of adhering to blind ideology for policy rather than using ideology to frame the approaches to solve problems (the second scenario allows seeing and adjusting policy to address holes/problems/ in the "solutions" - and allows some compromise... something these fools in their testosterone-hyped machismoistic need to win ... have been gleefully unwilling to do.)

I certainly agree that the neocons have completely lost control over, at least, some aspects of information. I guess I just find myself never underestimating the manipulative maneuvars these ideologues will exercise,...ever. I suppose only time will tell what is really happening with respect to this particular "revelation". Right now, of course, I am merely speculating which is all I can do given the environment of secrecy and deceit.

I too put little past them. I am just losing my awe and anger at their ability to keep pulling the crap off - and the press and public falling for it. That has more to do with how the climate in the news and public has changed in the past five months... and given that the media still seems manipulated and the coverage is light compared to what we are seeing come out (and in their benefit there are so MANY outrages that it would be hard to cover them all adequately)... this shift in the public awareness and shift in coverage is pretty stunning. Imagine what it would be if we had real, uncontrolled by rove, media coverage ...

if your scenario is true, I do believe eventually that will come out. WOuldn't have said that eight months ago. But this consistent pattern of jeopardizing US National Security in order to pursue their ideologically blinded goals has, for the past five months, been seeping out exposing these cons for what they are.

I don't watch faux, and he doesn't usually. He just had eye surgery and couldn't sleep. Also couldn't see the channel numbers so just listened to the tv.

He said faux had the whole story, chalabi working for iran, turning classified intel over to iran, everything.

If faux is telling it like it is, this administration is armpit deep in fecal matter without a pail to bail.

The striking thing to me is that america is now looked at as not just a criminal nation, we are now seen as a stupid criminal nation. Not only hatred, but also derisional laughter.

This nation has never been so low.

..The US, duped by Iran to take out their enemy, Saddam.

Thats really what it boils down to.

42 minutes ago

By SABER BABAN, Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The Kurdish security chief for embattled Iraqi politician Ahmad Chalabi is being sought by Iraqi and coalition authorities for alleged links to Iran's intelligence service, a senior Iraqi official said Saturday.

There is an arrest warrant for Araz Habib because "he has relations with the Iranian government" and "works for the Iranian intelligence," the official said on condition of anonymity.


Chalabi also told reporters Thursday that Habib was named in a warrant shown to him when Iraqi police, backed by U.S. soldiers, raided his home in western Baghdad. Chalabi did not disclose the charges against Habib, who has not been taken into custody.


A Chalabi aide, Haidar Musawi, told The Associated Press that he did not know Habib's whereabouts. However, Musawi called the allegations a "ridiculous" attempt to undermine Chalabi, a longtime Pentagon (news - web sites) favorite who is now out of favor with the U.S.-run Coalition Provisional Authority.

~snip~
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&ncid=721&e=7&u=/ap/20040522/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_chalabi

Rumsfeld unaware of raid on Chalabi's home

AFP< FRIDAY, MAY 21, 2004 06:55:32 AM >

WASHINGTON : Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has said he was unaware of the Iraqi police and US military raid on the home of Ahmed Chalabi, a member of the Iraqi Governing Council and former Pentagon ally who severed his ties with the occupying coalition.

Asked about the raid after a Senate Armed Forces committee meeting, Rumsfeld said, "I certainly was not aware that there was going to be a raid on a home if, in fact, there was."

..snip..

Rumsfeld said "my understanding is that the Iraqis are involved in this. And I think you'd probably best ask the Iraqi leadership."

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/688760.cms

out of the loop (are you being cut out?)
or
out of touch (are you running anything anymore?)

Neither paints you in a very good light. Nice to see what bush considers to be "supberb" leadership and examples of what cheney considers to be "the best Sec of Defense... ever"

I am amazed how Rum always claims "cluelessness" re: anything of high value/interest!

Both point to the worst and most corrupt leadership in our history, sad to say!

"I certainly was not aware" v. "the Iraqis are involved in this"

Like, "I only know the part about somebody else did it, and I don't know what I don't know about us being involved. OK? (burp)"

who said a very interesting thing. The raid was orchestrated by the STATE dept.
Could this be payback time for Powell and the rest that have been taking orders like good soldiers but are now royally pissed and trying to salvage what they can of a total screwup?

"I didn't know anything about a raid if, in fact, there was one." Doesn't this arrogant ass ever watch TV or read a paper? It was all over the news, on every friggin' channel. Just like his not using the word "torture". He said what he had seen was abuse, so he was not going to use the other word. (It's TORTURE, Rummy, torture. T-O-R-T-U-R-E. You enabled it, you should use the word. )

He knew goddam well there was a raid.

Chalabi move may backfire

AFP< FRIDAY, MAY 21, 2004 09:55:03 PM >

BAGHDAD : Former members of Saddam's Baath party could return to the fore of Iraqi public life, as the result of a head-on collision between a top Shia cleric and his US allies, officials say.

After coalition-backed Iraqi police raided his home and office on Thursday, Governing Council member Ahmed Chalabi lashed out at what he called US failures to rid the country of Baathists, under its so-called debaathification policy.

Members of the former ruling party "have a safe haven under the CPA's protection in Fallujah where they are making bombs and training terrorists," he said of the Sunni bastion where scores of US troops were killed last month.

He accused the recently appointed Sunni interior minister, Samir al-Sumaudai, of wanting to return Saddam associates to the security forces and for appointing a former Baathist as the Baghdad police chief.

Jabbar Abu Natiha, whom Chalabi held responsible for the unprecedented raids on his Baghdad compound, was known for his heavy-handed police techniques under the former regime....Cont'd >


http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/690577.cms

could be. If anything, he seemed almost intent upon risking a civil war in the region rather than working to unite all factions.