Today’s Must ReadOK, that’s it! Let no one say that the administration has not handled the situation with its typical forbearance and caution. Other, rasher leaders would have shunned Ahmad Chalabi after it became apparent that his network of informants were liars and that he could not be trusted. But the U.S. has not been overly swift to act. Sure, there were suspicions that he had passed classified information to Iran, but this is not a group that rushes to judgment.
Now, however, the straw has finally broken the camel’s back:
Sources in Baghdad tell NBC News that as of this week American military and civilian officials have cut off all contact with controversial Iraqi politician Ahmad Chalabi, the former favorite of Washington’s once powerful neoconservatives.The reason, the sources say, is “unauthorized” contacts with Iran’s government, an allegation Chalabi denies. Iran has been accused of arming and training rebel Shiite forces in Iraq….
Since September 2007… American military officials and civilian officials working out of the U.S. Embassy had contacts with Chalabi. At that time he was installed as the head of a “services” committee for Baghdad that was to coordinate the restoration of services to the city’s residents.
Gen. David Petraeus, commander of the Multi-National Forces-Iraq, even escorted Chalabi on a trip, on U.S. helicopters, to address reconstruction issues. And American officials attended meetings with him and supported his efforts.
Call it tough love.
Note: By the Charlie Black code of lobbying, it is now not OK to lobby for Ahmed Chalabi.