The Weak Lies You Embrace

Everyone's favorite source of Iraqi information, Ahmed Chalabi, had this to say this past February:

During an interview, Mr. Chalabi, by far the most effective anti-Saddam lobbyist in Washington, shrugged off charges that he had deliberately misled U.S. intelligence.

"We are heroes in error," he said in Baghdad on Wednesday. "As far as we're concerned, we've been entirely successful.

"Our objective has been achieved. That tyrant Saddam is gone, and the Americans are in Baghdad. What was said before is not important."

Mr. Chalabi added: "The Bush administration is looking for a scapegoat. We're ready to fall on our swords if [President Bush] wants.

But, you know how things change with the passage of time (not to mention a raid or allegations of spying):

Chalabi told CNN, "We never provided false information, or indeed any kind of information. What we provided was defectors."

In May 2001, U.S. intelligence agencies requested his group's help in gathering information, and the INC led them to three defectors who "we believed knew about weapons of mass destruction," Chalabi said.

"They interrogated them. ... It is not our responsibility to verify this information. It is blame-shifting, again, by the CIA," he said.

Chalabi said it was "outlandish" to believe that "an exile organization, which was criticized and vilified by the CIA throughout the past decade, would provide information and the United States officials would take it as credible and go to war on its basis. That is ridiculous."

It's looking more and more as if the U.S. government was the chump for this guy, and whoever he was working for.

Scumbag

Sorry for the title of this post. But, it's appropriate since Ahmed Chalabi was allowed to have his essay published in today's NY Times -

The Iraq war is over.

It ends five years too late and at far too terrible a cost in lives, money and idealism. The difficult and tortuous negotiations over the American withdrawal now coming to an end in Baghdad offer a distorted glimpse of what might have been.

Thanks, chief. If only you had been a little more "open" before we sent our brothers and sisters to die for your dreams of glory. Face it, our Iraq "adventure" was caused by Mr. Chalabi's desire to have our country install him in some high office there.

I can think of at least one person who gave his life because of Mr. Chalabi's dreams of glory.

So "scumbag" is the mildest word to use for Mr. Chalabi.

They're Ringin' the Flag Down

Does this make any sense at all?

Iraq’s U.S.-picked leaders approved a new flag for the country, making a dramatic change that dumps the Saddam Hussein-era colors and slogan “God is great” and introduces symbols of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, a spokesman said Monday. … But the dramatic change in a national symbol could raise some complaints — particularly since it came from U.S.-picked leaders seen by many Iraqis as American puppets. U.S. administrators have tried quietly in the past to change the flag by dropping the words “Allahu akbar,” but Iraqis have refused to abide by the change.
One council member said the Iraqi leadership should wait for an elected government before altering such a major national symbol.

The linked story shows the "new" flag. By the way, the old flag's colors are not "Saddam-era", they're from the Iraqi flag adopted in 1963. Saddam Hussein added the Arabic words “Allahu akbar,” or “God is great” to the flag, during the Iran-Iraq War.

Now, just to be clear, as of this date there is no plan, for turning over non-sovereignty to a government of as-yet unknown individuals. Also as of this date, our forces are engaged in putting down several uprisings, holding together an ever-dwindling "coalition" of allies, and trying to prevent a general Islamic front of opposition to our continued occupation of Iraq. Given all this, does it make any sense to have Chalabi and his gang run a new, WHITE national flag up the flagpole?

Oh, yeah, and it has blue stripes. Extra credit if you guess which other country in the area has a flag with blue stripes on a white background. Really bright idea, guys …