John Cusack and Arianna dine with Achmed Chalabi

[JJackFlash]

Dressed in a sweater, he said he wants Congress to investigate Proconsul Paul Bremer.

"The administration wants to cover this up," he told me. "Let's hope Waxman won't let them."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/chillin-with-chalabi-my_b_10651.html

[MADem]

1. WOW, what a fascinating article!!!

Chalabi is one STRANGE DUDE...and he sure as hell knows what he is up to. Master of the Bazaar, indeed!!!

[pinniped]

2. That asshole paul has disappeared as fast as the billions missing from IRQ

.

[JJackFlash]

4. BILLION$$ cash were being shipped around Iraq

stolen from the Iraqis and used for various nefarious pay-offs.

And the "government" was being run by scores of money-hungry Young Republicans! I hope the full story of Bremer's rule is told one day.

[cosmicdot]

36. appearing in Va Beach on 11/18/05 for Blackwater 'fundraiser'

"This event is closed to the press."

a 'fundraiser' for the American Red Cross/NOLA is 'closed to the press'???!!!???

BlackwaterUSA,Red Cross-Hurricane Relief Fundraiser(Keynote SpeakerBremer)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=5361325

Blackwater USA, Red Cross - Hurricane Relief Fundraiser (Bremer guest)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=5355662

Bremer to speak at Blackwater fundraiser in VaBeach 11/18/05
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=183&topic_id=2936

[fooj]

3. Wow. So Bremer IS 9 BILLION dollars richer...

Hmmmmmm...

:smoke:

Peace.

[Marie26]

8. It's just Iraqi money, who cares?

On April 18, 2005, when Bremer spoke at Clark University April 18, the Worcester Indymedia reported:

When asked what he thought of reports of $9 billion missing from the funds to rebuild Iraq he said "I suggest you not worry, as that $9 billion was Iraqi money, not US money."

[shance]

5. "Billions that belonged to the Iraqi people"

n/t

[ngGale]

6. Seems Chalabi has talking points of his own...

but who is calling the shots? Interesting...:crazy:

[oasis]

7. Chalabi's a polished version of Dick Morris. He'll put on a multitude of

faces but we know one thing for sure, Chalabi is going to look out for Chalabi.

[Strawman]

33. that's an excellent comparison

[WearyOne]

9. like the way Arianna writes !

[arewenotdemo]

14. Yeah. She's good.

[No Exit]

10. I would just like to put him in a room with Saddam for an hour.

We might be able to kill two birds with one stone.

[applegrove]

11. She's a very bright person. I love her. I'm so glad she came over

to the light side. She has empathy that the rest are sorely lacking.

And don't you get the weird feeling that Chalabi is in town to shore up Rummy & Cheney and tell them what to do? How odd is that..really...

[PassingFair]

22. I suspect that John Cusak loves her too!

12:30 am calls? Writing political essays?

On Chalabi: anyone remember if formal charges were filed and dropped, regarding he and his nephew? Remember when they sent mercs to "go-over" his office in Iraq?

[KT2000]

12. Janice Karpinski

has a story to tell about Paul Bremer in her book. Saw her on C-Span - she does not like Bremer and referred to the corruption inside the green-zone.
Haven't read the book but she does not pull any punches.

[0007]

19. More.....

Another thing made clear through the night was how much Chalabi hates Paul Bremer and what the Coalition Provision Authority did in Iraq. So much so that he's willing to praise Henry Waxman, who has criticized him harshly, but who, according to Chalabi, has done the most thorough work on what he regards as "the tragic waste and abuse of billions of dollars that belonged to the Iraqi people."

"The administration wants to cover this up," he told me. "Let's hope Waxman won't let them."

He wanted me to know that his meetings were not just with Republicans, but included Sen. Carl Levin, Rep. Tom Lantos, and Dick Holbrooke. "Ultimately," he said, "we have no friendships -- only interests."

Who's porking who? Dinner at one in the morning?

[arewenotdemo]

13. This Chalabi quote slays me:

Whoever said he missed his calling (as a second-rate stand-up comedian) was right!

"Isn't that proof," I kept asking, "that the presence of the military is fueling the insurgency, and that your job would be easier if the Americans left?"

"No," he kept insisting, "we need the Americans to protect us from our neighbors. From Syria, from Saudi Arabia, from Iran."

He'd last a minute without the American army there. His fellow Iraqis would see to that. To be perfectly honest, I'm amazed that he's still alive.

[leftchick]

15. excellent article

The man is really quite a player. World class.

[acmavm]

16. Hmmm. I have absolutely no interest in paying my taxes to preserve the

life of that scheming criminal. But I certainly agree that Paul Bremer should be investigated, tried, and strung up by his testicles. He is our very own Chalabi. He's a liar and a thief. And a coward to boot.

[Just Me]

17. That guy is quite the chameleon, isn't he.

:eyes: This read is just, plain wild!!! I wonder how BushCo is reacting to this.

[chat_noir]

18. rate it up on Yahoo

If you read Arianna's editorial on Yahoo, you have the opportunity to rate it up.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/huffpost/20051115/cm_huffpost/010651

[radwriter0555]

20. Correction please. Cusack didn't dine with Chalabi, Huffington did, and

Cusack called (her) during dinner.

Just keeping it real.

[corporatemedia]

23. Correction to "Correction"...

"I turned to Chalabi and asked if it would be okay to ask Cusack to join us. "He's an American actor," I volunteered.

...

It seemed just moments before he joined us, and immediately our host took us on a wide-ranging Chalabi Tour, alternating between the personal and the pointedly politic"

[radwriter0555]

38. okay FINE I missed that sentence... I stand corrected. She just didn't

refer to him again, sorry!!!!!

[Seansky]

21. don't know why they call Rove the genious, chalabi seems to be a

master of manipulation. Now he is leveraging all the questions about the US and has even gotten us listening/reading to his criticism...How many sides is this guy capable of playing, so smoothly?

[PRETZEL]

25. Chalabi most certainly is the ultimate master of manipulation

He's been playing this game for a long time. He started playing Bush Sr. back during the first Gulf War, continued that through the Clinton Administration through "money for intelligence" schemes for his Iraqi National Congress party and hit the jackpot with this administration.

Chalabi is a neocon that even the neocon's envy. He knows full well that if gains control of Iraq, forges a somewhat working aliance with Iran (I believe Chalabi is Shia) he effectively controls the region. The Kurds (and even more so Turkey) know they will be shut out of all things economic and political, the Sunni's (including Saudia Arabia) would not be able to look to us for help (remember we relocated the permanent military bases out of SA and into Iraq) and the pressure on Syria would be immense. Israel benefits from all of this as it puts one of it's most dangerous threats in such a defensive position that they are effectively neutralized.

[readmylips]

24. Sounds as if Chalabi is shopping for another JudyMiller...

The guy is a crook and those millions missing are in his pockets and in Bremer's.

[arewenotdemo]

37. Now that you mention it

it certainly does.

Maybe that's what she meant by "man in full".

Seducer.

[lanlady]

26. Ahmed Rasputin

The Bush administration can't live without him, and fail to see that his influence is deleterious. They cling to him for dear life, like Tsarina Alexandra needed Rasputin for her hemophiliac son even as the relationship accelerated the collapse of the Russian monarchy.

[progressivebydesign]

27. Is it shallow to ask what John Cusack wore to dinner?

Sorry.

ACtually, I find the whole Chalabi subject to be fascinating. I've had trouble keeping up with him. Bush loved him, then hated him, then I thought he was charged with a crime or suspected for passing secrets, then he's back in the U.S., then he's meeting with Rumsfeld. Then.. I think he's wanted in Jordan (how curious) for crimes?

[Catrina]

28. 'We have no friends, just interests'

And Chalabi's interests are not in the interests of US troops or the American people.

Why on earth should the US be interested in furthering the interests of this man, who now says he didn't care about WMDs, he just wanted Saddam removed for his human rights abuses, yet it was he who pushed the WMD scare to force this country into a war that has divided this country and made us the pariah of the world?

The American people were duped into a war they did not need to fight. This man's arrogance, his determination to 'use' the US military for his own benefit, is infuriating, and even more infuriating is the willingness of the Bush administration to cater to him.

His concern about Bremer's theft of Iraqi money, shouldn't fool anyone either. Imo, his only concern is that Bremer may have gotten to it before he did. Still, it's good that they are at war with each other, it makes it more likely that the missing billions will be investigated, sooner or later.

From the beginning, people wondered what would happen after all these groups with varying interests would do when they all achieved the one goal they had in common, the invasion of Iraq.

The neocons, the corporatists, the fundies, the Iraqi ex-patriots, all were united while working on achieving their common goal. But now, all their individual plans for the future of Iraq seem to be in conflict. I just hope that the crimes they all engaged in while they were focused on the invasion, will be revealed as they vie for power over the country they so wrongfully targeted for their own ambitions.

Hopefully, the American people will prevail and bring home the troops and start working on restoring America's reputation around the world. That is in the interests of the American people. Chalabi's ambitions and interests are in direct conflict with those of the American people.

I still don't understand why he has not been detained and questioned about his role in getting this country into a disastrous war and his alleged spying activities against this country.

[lovuian]

29. I think the most interesting statement is Saudi Arabia is now

on the Iraqi enemy list!!!

Sounds to me "The oil must flow" and the Saudi's were definitely not playing ball but wanted to rule the game...

[MissMarple]

30. What a "bazaar" conglomeration of conflicts of interests.

"The problem is that this time I don't think the Master of the Bazaar will be able to square the circle and get what he wants. Because what he wants is an occupying army that no longer acts as an occupying army -- an army that fiercely protects Iraq from its neighbors while being the smiling cop on the beat in Iraq's explosive neighborhoods.

There is no way he is going to get Rumsfeld and Cheney, steeped in the neocon "you're either at the table or on the menu" ethos, to agree to limit the powers of the U.S. army.

So to the extent that his visit here has made it more likely the troops will stay until the Iraqis are ready to take over -- which effectively means indefinitely -- Chalabi will have done a disservice to his country. And he will have made all the things he cares about -- including a constant and uninterrupted flow of oil -- infinitely harder to achieve.

And I know it's no big deal for avalanches, but it will also lead to even more dead young Americans, more Gold Star Moms, and more broken lives."
...

I do hope they expose Bremer. His brother Duncan was a county commissioner. He was joined at the hip with the Focus people and the "drag government into the bathroom to drown it" folks. Talk about conflicts and hypocrisy. He's been curiously quiet after brother Paul's involvement with the Provisional Authority. There were several news articles on it and their familial connection at the beginning....then, absolutely nothing.

[jsamuel]

31. Chalabi always wants every group to investigate another group, but not him

Master of forgery...

[Disturbed]

32. "why he has not been detained and questioned"

Commentary: Chalabi's road to victory
By ARNAUD DE BORCHGRAVE
UPI Editor at Large

WASHINGTON, March 29 (UPI) -- With only three months to go before L. Paul Bremer trades in his Iraqi pro-consul baton for beachwear and a hard-earned vacation, the country's most controversial politician is already well positioned to become prime minister.

Ahmad Chalabi, the Pentagon's heartthrob and the State Department's and CIA's heartbreak, has taken the lead in a year long political marathon. Temporary constitutional arrangements are structured to give the future prime minister more power than the president. The role of the president will be limited because his decisions will have to be ratified by two deputy presidents, or vice presidents. Key ministries, such as Defense and Interior, will be taking orders from the prime minister.

Chalabi holds the ultimate weapons -- several dozen tons of documents and individual files seized by his Iraqi National Congress from Saddam Hussein's secret security apparatus. Coupled with his position as head of the de-Baathification commission, Chalabi, barely a year since he returned to his homeland after 45 years of exile, has emerged as the power behind a vacant throne. He also appears to have impressive amounts of cash at his disposal and a say in which companies get the nod for some of the $18.4 billion earmarked for reconstruction. One company executive who asked that both his and the company's name be withheld said, "The commission was steep even by Middle Eastern standards."

http://www.upi.com/inc/view.php?StoryID=20040329-094918-2616r

[confludemocrat]

34. He is a latter-day Thieu and Ky combined. Now, as then, disaster awaits

any course of action that gives him anything other than a jail cell. Now he's dropping Waxman's name, the day after canoodling with Condi and (with apologies to the rude pundit) sucking off Rumsfeld. He should be arrested.

[Cha]

35. chalabi..so many plans so

little time.

The most startling thing Ariana had to say was about the Young Americans dying and more Gold Star Moms and Dads grieving..not only that there will be many more Iraqi civilians dead and maimed as well.

The Iraqis are getting abused now with sadamn gone..so the only thing that's changed is chalabi is in Power.