Soooooooooo....who could this high level drubn be?
'Drunk' American Blabs To Chalabi?
NEW YORK, June 2, 2004
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/05/20/eveningnews/main618637.shtml
Who Gave Chalabi Intel?
Ahmad Chalabi (Photo: AP / CBS)
U.S. troops outside Chalabi's home during May 20 raid. (Photo: AP)
(CBS) FBI counter-intelligence agents are focusing on the highest
levels of the Pentagon in their search for who told former Iraqi ally
Ahmad Chalabi one of the nation's best kept secrets -- only to see
Chalabi turn right around and share it with Iranian intelligence
agents, reports CBS News Correspondent Jim Stewart.
Several news organizations, including CBS, The New York Times and Los
Angeles Times learned of the alleged betrayal weeks ago. But the
agencies agreed to withhold reporting it until now because of U.S.
attempts to shore up the intelligence losses.
Chalabi was once held in high enough esteem to sit behind first lady
Laura Bush during the state of the union address. He is alleged to
have met in Baghdad with a top Iranian agent and disclosed to him that
the U.S. had cracked Iran's secret codes and was eavesdropping on all
Iranian intelligence messages.
Chalabi told the Iranians he learned about the code intercepts from an
American who was "drunk" when he told him. What followed was a frantic
exchange of messages between the Baghdad Iranian agent and his
headquarters in Tehran all of which were intercepted and decoded by
U.S. agents back here.
That led to a raid last month on Chalabi's Baghdad headquarters and an
end to his hopes of joining in the new leadership coalition in
post-war Iraq.
Today Chalabi denied the leaks, calling the accusations "false" and
"stupid."
Chalabi has always had a history of mixed reviews from U.S. officials.
The CIA blames him for some of the bad intelligence about weapons of
mass destruction in Iraq. However, the Pentagon has credited Chalabi
with information that led to a quick victory over Saddam Hussein.
"We are getting some extremely valuable information from a whole range
of Iraqi groups, including Mr. Chalabi's," said Deputy Secretary of
Defense Paul Wolfowitz.
The Pentagon says no one there has been officially questioned as yet.
Other officials, however, hint the leak investigation is making good
progress.
On Tuesday, CBS News reported that Chalabi recently told an Iranian
intelligence official that the U.S. had cracked the codes, allowing
the U.S. to read communications on everything from Iran's sponsorship
of terrorists to its covert operations inside Iraq.
Chalabi has denied passing any classified information to Iran, and
Chalabi supporters have asserted that the CIA is out to destroy the
former exile.
In Najaf, Iraq, Chalabi said Wednesday it was "false" and "stupid" to
assert he had tipped Iran to the code break.
"Where would I get this from?" he asked. "I have no such information.
How would I know anything about that? That's stupid from every
aspect."
Chalabli was once touted as a strong candidate to lead postwar Iraq by
some White House and Pentagon officials, but he has suffered a rapid
fall from the grace, in no small measure because the U.S. learned he
was giving secret information to Iran.
On May 20, Iraqi police backed by American soldiers raided Chalabi's
Baghdad home and offices. Chalabi is a controversial figure who
provided the Bush administration with prewar intelligence on supposed
weapons of mass destruction in Iraq -- including the now-discredited
information about mobile weapons labs.
After the raid on his home and offices, 60 Minutes Correspondent
Lesley Stahl reported that the U.S. had evidence Chalabi has been
passing highly classified U.S. intelligence to Iran.
The New York Times, citing U.S. intelligence officials, said the U.S.
learned of Chalabi's activities when an Iranian intelligence agent in
Baghdad sent a coded message to Tehran reporting that Chalabi had told
him the U.S. had broken the codes.
According to the message, which was read by the U.S., Chalabi claimed
to have gotten the information from an unnamed American who was drunk,
the Times said.
Chalabi is still active and visible on the scene in Iraq where he is a
member of the Iraqi Governing Council.
Over the Memorial Day weekend, Chalabi was reportedly involved in
negotiations to maintain a faltering ceasefire in the city of Kufa
between U.S. military and radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
İMMIV, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may
not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The
Associated Press contributed to this report.
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| User: "Woodswun" |
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| Title: Re: Who Gave Chalabi Intel? |
02 Jun 2004 08:06:05 PM |
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In article <33b7880.0406021645.286b2e7d@posting.google.com>, (jha_amin) wrote:
Soooooooooo....who could this high level drubn be?
'Drunk' American Blabs To Chalabi?
Since this was likely in another language, much hinges on the accuracy of the
translation. If it was an American who was drunk, or an American known to be a
drunk.
Given Bush's drunken past, and his sharing of the Iraqi war plan with Saudi
Arabia before showing it to Powell - it wouldn't be too far off to think Bush
would be idiotic enough to tell the future appointed of Iraq something like
this.
Woods
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| User: "Ugly American" |
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| Title: Re: Who Gave Chalabi Intel? |
03 Jun 2004 03:57:33 AM |
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I don't know if we'll ever know who it was, but it's fun trying to
guess. If it's someone in W's inner circle, then they will probably
try to scapegoat some low-ranking functionary like Lynndie. I have
zero faith in our rulers to discover and publicize the truth.
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| User: "Woodswun" |
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| Title: Re: Who Gave Chalabi Intel? |
03 Jun 2004 05:48:38 PM |
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In article <62be497.0406030057.1213e0a1@posting.google.com>, (Ugly American) wrote:
I don't know if we'll ever know who it was, but it's fun trying to
guess. If it's someone in W's inner circle, then they will probably
try to scapegoat some low-ranking functionary like Lynndie. I have
zero faith in our rulers to discover and publicize the truth.
Someone of that low a rank in the military either wouldn't know that we'd broken
the Iranians' code, or if they did, they most certainly would not have been in a
position to speak with Chalabi. What we'd have to do to guess is figure out
which American personnel would likely have a relationship of some sort with
Chalabi and *also* be aware that the Iranian codes had been broken. I think
we're looking at someone extremely high up in the chain of command.
Woods
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| User: "Ugly American" |
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| Title: Re: Who Gave Chalabi Intel? |
04 Jun 2004 12:35:33 AM |
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I'm thinking that they might try to frame a technologist or military
liaison. Someone who isn't a high-level decision maker but whose job
confers the "need to know" and MAY have met Chalabi at a company
barbecue. Somehow I just can't believe that this administration would
"out" one of their own. It would be an admission of failed judgment,
something they just don't do.
Well I can hope. A scandal involving a well-known official makes life
interesting.
woodswun@tepidmail.com (Woodswun) wrote in message news:<aVNvc.45723$j24.33422@twister.nyroc.rr.com>...
In article <62be497.0406030057.1213e0a1@posting.google.com>, (Ugly American) wrote:
I don't know if we'll ever know who it was, but it's fun trying to
guess. If it's someone in W's inner circle, then they will probably
try to scapegoat some low-ranking functionary like Lynndie. I have
zero faith in our rulers to discover and publicize the truth.
Someone of that low a rank in the military either wouldn't know that we'd broken
the Iranians' code, or if they did, they most certainly would not have been in a
position to speak with Chalabi. What we'd have to do to guess is figure out
which American personnel would likely have a relationship of some sort with
Chalabi and *also* be aware that the Iranian codes had been broken. I think
we're looking at someone extremely high up in the chain of command.
Woods
.
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