Dispute with Chalabi cost an opportunity to sway Iraqis, congressional ...

[maddezmom]

WASHINGTON (AP) The United States missed an opportunity to reach out to the Iraqi people before and during the Iraq war because of a dispute between the State Department and Ahmad Chalabi's Iraqi National Congress over television broadcasts, congressional investigators say.

A foundation supporting Chalabi's group stopped television broadcasts to Iraq after May 2002 because it was unable to reach a funding agreement with the State Department, according to the report Thursday from the General Accounting Office.

The report was released hours after U.S. soldiers and Iraqi police raided Chalabi's home in Iraq. Officials said the raids stemmed from arrest warrants for up to 15 people on assorted criminal charges and Chalabi was not the target.

~snip~

The report appears to cast equal responsibility on both sides for the dispute.

Congress had approved $10 million for ''Liberty TV'' broadcasts in Iraq, part of $33 million in State Department funding for the Iraqi National Congress Support Foundation from March 2000 to September 2003. Liberty TV broadcast from August 2001 to May 2002, when money dried up.

The GAO says State was concerned about the foundation's handling of money because past audits showed financial improprieties. The foundation said subsequent audits showed it had corrected problems.

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/141/wash/Dispute_with_Chalabi_cost_an_o:.shtml

Don't know what to make of this report. :shrug: