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November 01, 2005

Ahmed Chalabi - The Great Peacemaker

Please read this whole post or you will miss the punchline.

From the AP this afternoon:

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Politically savvy and a sharp dresser with a perpetual grin, Ahmad Chalabi has gone from Washington insider, to alleged Iranian spy, to someone the Bush administration cannot afford to ignore — all in the space of two years.

Chalabi, a deputy prime minister, plans to travel this month to Washington to refurbish a reputation tainted by the since-discredited claims that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. At home, Chalabi has quit a Shiite political alliance criticized for its strong ties to Iran.

All this points to one thing: Chalabi is maneuvering to become Iraq's next prime minister after elections in less than two months.

That might seem a long-shot for Chalabi, an MIT graduate and former banker who is a controversial figure at home and abroad. But his political acumen and ability to survive leave both friends and foes in awe....

In Washington, administration officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to make announcements to the media, said efforts were under way to arrange meetings for Chalabi with Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Chalabi's top aide, Haider al-Mousawi, said meetings with Treasury Secretary John Snow and National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley also were in the works....

"Chalabi is entertaining hopes of an alliance between his new coalition, the Sadrists and Fadhila," said Ali al-Adeeb, a senior official of Dawa party. "He knows that it's the Islamic trend and not the liberals who will prevail in Iraq."

Chalabi is contesting the election on a single ticket that includes his Iraqi National Congress, a group that supports restoration of the monarchy and small Kurdish and Turkomen factions.

It's too late for other groups to join Chalabi before the election since the deadline for registering candidacies passed last Friday. But others such as Fadhila and the al-Sadr movement could forge an alliance in the new parliament.

Just ask Iraqis:

These days, when the U.S.-run administration in Baghdad takes confidential polls to gauge public support for its hand-picked Iraqi Governing Council, Chalabi's approval ratings are "the most negative by far" among the 25 members, says an official who's perused the results. "The numbers I've seen run around 60 percent negative to 30 percent positive." (March 8, 2004)

Even ask The New Yorker:

Iraqis have long seen him as an American puppet with no constituency at home; in polls, they have given Chalabi approval ratings lower than those for Saddam Hussein. (May 29, 2004)

For an added bonus, ask Doug Feith:

RAFAEL EPSTEIN: Salem Chalabi has been to the Hague and he's looked at post-war tribunals in Bosnia, Rwanda and the Balkans.

Now he's been appointed Director-General of the new Iraqi tribunal. He's appointed the seven judges and four prosecutors who will try Saddam Hussein and other from his regime who will be charged by the new tribunal.

SALEM CHALABI: We're trying to meet international standards of due process of law, so we don't want to do this in a very quick fashion. We have to organise it, we have to prepare it, we have to get the judges trained, we have to get the investigative judges to review the evidence – this is a long process.

RAFAEL EPSTEIN: Salem Chalabi may be a controversial choice. Many Iraqis are already frustrated with their inability to reach those in power, and the man running the tribunal is seen by some as one of those special few who access and control the corridors of power.

Iraqis want the tribunal and they want Saddam Hussein on trial, but the tribunal's critics say any perception it's an American creation, not genuinely independent, could diminish the public perception of its power.

According to the US newspaper The Hill, Chalabi's business partner Mark Zell runs a law firm with the US Undersecretary of Defence Douglas Feith, a key neo-conservative architect of the Iraq war. Feith's Pentagon office oversees the distribution of those reconstruction contracts.

But Salem Chalabi is confident the tribunal will be accepted. (April 22, 2004)

Even critics agree:

Chalabi for the Nobel Peace Prize...

At some point there is silence. This is the point when both sides are convinced that the other one is completely inane and ridiculously intractable. It’s sort of a huffy silence, with rolling eyes and lips drawn into thin slits of scorn.

I’ve learned the best way to mediate these arguments is to let them develop into what they will. Let the yellers yell, the shouters shout and the name-calling and innuendos ensue. The important part is the end- how to allow the debating parties to part friends or relatives, or (at the very least) to make sure they do not part sworn enemies for life. It’s simple, no matter what their stand is, all you have to do is get a couple of words in towards the end. The huffy silence at the end of the debate must be subtly taken advantage of and the following words murmured as if the thought just occurred that moment:

“You know who’s really bad? Ahmed Chalabi. He’s such a lowlife and villain.”

Voila. Like magic the air clears, eyebrows are raised in agreement and all arguing parties suddenly unite to confirm this very valid opinion with nodding heads, somewhat strained laughter and charming anecdotes about his various press appearances and ridiculous sense of fasion. We’re all friends again, and family once more. We’re all lovey-dovey Iraqis who can agree nicely with each other. In short, we are at peace with each other and the world.

And that is why Ahmed Chalabi deserves the Nobel Peace Prize. (March 9, 2005)

Chalabi for Prime Minister! 99.11% YES!!!

Posted by Mike at November 1, 2005 11:46 PM

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