Chalabi=Opportunist of the Century

[Palestinian Jew]

I recently decided to see what the Bush Admin's old friend was up to. I didn't expect much after he was accused of giving information to Iran and had his house raided, probably as retaliation for all that false info he provided that the Bushies ate up. But if anything Chalabi is an opportunist and knows real-politik. Apparently he has aligned himself with Moqtada al-Sadr to garner votes and he is now the Deputy Prime Minister!

Not only that but he heads the energy commission, the contract commission(approves all contracts above $3 milion), and the de-bathification commission.

Here are my problems with this. Obviously, contracts that help Chalabi are going to have first priority. Plus, de-bathification has been hurting efforts to rebuild Iraq as many of the skilled workers were low-level baathists. Also, most of the former baathists are Sunni, and what else is a jobless Sunni to do other than join the insurgency?

On the streets in Iraq, Chalabi is referred to as "Ahmed the Thief". In the 90s, he was convicted of massive bank fraud in Jordan.

As for Chalabi's political career, I see this as detrimental to the US cause of installing democracy. I can only imagine how many other corrupt politicians are running amuck in Iraq. If Chalabi becomes PM, Iraq will have a mini-Saddam to contend with.

 

[Zhukov]

The investigation concerning his contact with the Iranians continues.

However, I don't trust him and I'd consider it no big loss if Mr. Chalabi had himself a little accident.

 

[waltky]

Ahmad Chalabi dies of heart attack...

Iraq's Ahmad Chalabi, leading voice behind 2003 war, dies
3 Nov.`15 — Ahmad Chalabi, a prominent Iraqi politician who strongly advocated for the 2003 U.S.-led invasion to overthrow Saddam Hussein, has died of a heart attack, Iraqi state TV reported Tuesday.

The report said he died in Baghdad but did not provide further details on the circumstances of his death. He was in his early 70s.

Chalabi, a secular Shiite politician who lived in exile for decades, was a leading proponent of the invasion to topple Saddam and provided false information indicating that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. Many in the Bush administration had viewed him as a favorite to lead Iraq after the 2003 intervention.

However, he had a falling out with the Pentagon following the invasion, and was largely sidelined by other Iraqi leaders, many with close ties to neighboring Iran. Chalabi had been serving as the chairman of parliament's finance committee, and was previously a deputy prime minister.

Iraq's Ahmad Chalabi, leading voice behind 2003 war, dies