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New Yorkers: Arrest Ahmad Chalabi on Friday?
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Tomorrow (Wednesday) is the time to greet Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Chalabi at 1150 17th Street, NW in Washington, D.C. A couple of posts below, I have suggested that a citizen's arrest might very well be in order for this duplicitous intel swindler who has undermined America's interests and helped cause thousands of deaths among Iraqis as well as among American, British and other forces.
The event is full. But lots of press will be on the street asking YOU for YOUR VIEWS about this character. Be sure to give DPM Chalabi my personal message that I hope his trip to Washington and New York proves to be a miserable experience.
Not everyone can make it tomorrow -- so those of you in Washington, Philadelphia, Boston, Camden, Pittsburgh, Albany, Bangor, Portsmouth, and the rest of the country who have time and an air ticket or car handy -- you can greet Ahmad Chalabi in NEW YORK on FRIDAY AFTERNOON.
Chalabi will be speaking at the members-only Council on Foreign Realtions at The Harold Pratt House at 58 East 68th Street.
This is another chance for American soldiers and other citizens to show up and greet Chalabi and give him a bit of their thinking on this whole Iraq escapade. I think supporters and detractors should go. Show him what heterodoxy and political diversity mean -- and let him know that most of the country is angry at what has happened and wants to know more about his role in conspiring to hype and fabricate intelligence about an Iraqi nuclear weapons program that did not exist.
CFR members will show up just before 3:45 for coffee and tea -- followed by Chalabi speaking at 4 p.m. I suggest 3 p.m. would be a great time to greet Chalabi in New York. The date is Friday, 11 November -- this week.
If he sneaks in early, don't worry, he'll be exiting at 5 p.m. and you can share your thoughts -- loudly -- then.
Johns Hopkins SAIS Professor Fouad Ajami will preside at the meeting. I only wish CFR President Richard Haass was going to chair the meeting as I know Haass would make the event "real."
Haass is demonstrating some real magnanimity by hosting Chalabi because I'd bet that there is no love lost between Richard Haass and Chalabi. Haass says publicly that the "Iraq War was a war of choice" for the U.S. -- and that means to a realist like Haass that we had other options that we should have considered. Chalabi was part of the 'cabal' that took this nation to war.
I don't have anything against Ajami. He's intellectually pro-war and I differ with him on that, but these are differences that can be debated -- but I do think that Ajami should have recused himself as Chairman of this event.
The CFR should be a place for honest discourse and exchange -- and perhaps that will happen with the audience -- though usually the Chair of the event tries to "protect" the speaker and buffer that individual from the terrain he or she is entering.
Chalabi and Ajami are close pals according to this clip:
In the shifting landscape of Iraqi politics, holding onto power is a full-time job that leaves Chalabi unable to pursue his many intellectual interests. His Lebanese wife and their four children live mostly outside of Iraq, and his taxing schedule seldom permits travel abroad.In the past week, however, Chalabi entertained a houseguest: the Lebanese-born scholar Fouad Ajami, a pariah among many Arab intellectuals for his cozy relationship with Israel and the United States. Ajami, director of Middle Eastern Studies at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies, had accompanied Chalabi on the solemn trip to Musayyib.
Over a traditional Iraqi meal of cinnamon-spiced rice and okra stew later that evening, the like-minded men skewered their mutual critics, lambasting an array of self-proclaimed Iraq experts, the Arab intelligentsia, famous journalists and Washington lawmakers. After dinner, Ajami and Chalabi's aides, exhausted by the grueling day, sank into plush chairs.
Chalabi disappeared for a moment to swap his dusty suit from the bombing tour for a crisp navy blazer. He said good night to his guests and set off for a Cabinet meeting. "We'll rest now," said Qanbar, one of Chalabi's closest aides. "But he'll keep going until midnight."
Before Ajami left town, Chalabi did manage to carve out a leisurely summer day at the picturesque, poolside Baghdad estate built by his father in 1934. They lounged in a room where the television was tuned to coverage of Condoleezza Rice's visit to Beirut, and a boxed set of "The Sopranos" sat on a shelf. The men discussed authors and debated Arab contributions to science as Moroccan folk music, Palestinian rap and Lebanese pop boomed from a stereo.
Chalabi's nephew, the finance minister, joined them for lunch.
It's basically ok for Ajami to chair the Chalabi event. I have certainly hosted friends for public speeches before. However, Haass would be far better. This is not a normal CFR event; it's very high profile -- and Chalabi owes America an explanation for the nuke WMD fabrications, for the Iran spies he nurtured and nurtures, and for the mountains of missing money that many believe his gang took out of the pockets of the negligent Coalition Provisional Authority.
One hopes that CFR members plan to grill him -- and I hear that a few are sharpening their questions and prods.
But for those New Yorkers who want to show him what an angry democracy that wants answers looks like -- you have a chance at 3 p.m. and then 5 p.m. -- entry and exit -- in New York on Friday afternoon.
The rest of you -- tomorrow, 2 p.m. -- 1150 17th M Street, NW -- Washington, D.C.
-- Steve Clemons
« Previous Article - If You are Blocked from Ahmad Chalabi's Event -- Try Judith Miller for $375» Next Article - Peering Into Ahmad Chalabi's Cesspool & What About New Jersey, Virginia and New York City?
what are the preferred accessories? pitchforks or tar&feathers?
"what are the preferred accessories? pitchforks or tar&feathers?"
Arrest warrants.
Peace,
UL
They lounged in a room where the television was tuned to coverage of Condoleezza Rice's visit to Beirut, and a boxed set of "The Sopranos" sat on a shelf.
Such a nice touch. So I guess it's true that gangsters enjoy watching Hollywood representations of gangsters.
Steve Clemons is on fire. He is doing such a great service for the world. How does he do all of this!?
Steve, keep on movin, Buddy.
These excerpts from today's NYT should make ANY reasonable American - especially any American who supports our troops - absolutely furious:
"The idea, American officials said, is to treat Mr. Chalabi not as someone with a controversial past, but as a visitor whose current title demands that he be accorded respect - and a politician whose skills and ambitions make it likely that he could gain more power in the future.
"Ahmad Chalabi is the deputy prime minister of Iraq; he is an official and a representative of the government of Iraq," said Adam Ereli, a State Department spokesman, adding that because of Mr. Chalabi's interests in the economy and energy sectors, American interests were "well served" by Ms. Rice's meeting with him."
and
"There's a certain irony in Chalabi now coming to Washington as deputy prime minister," said Richard N. Perle, a Chalabi supporter who served as chairman of the Defense Policy Board, an advisory body, under Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.
Mr. Perle maintains that the Bush administration should never have pushed Mr. Chalabi aside, but instead should have continued to work closely with him. "Had we done so, I think we would be a lot better off in Iraq today," he said. "Yes, there are words uttered that he's a schemer. In fact, he's been crucial to almost every positive development in the Iraq saga.""
Take him!
Steve Clemons, you're Fitzgeraldean once you've set your sites on a subject. If this foreign policy/media thing doesn't work out (unlikely)you could always go into law and make a heck of a prosecutor.
Chalabi is such a great bad spy novel character--if only it were fiction.
There's a certain irony in Richard Perle calling objections to Chalabi ironic, seems to me. There have been a fair number of words uttered about the scheming of Mr. Perle, as I recall, and I think we could safely say that he's been crucial to the development of the middle east as we know it...
Heres Cong. George Miller's email address. As one of the few in Washington that is willing to call a crook a crook, perhaps some of you may want to drop him a note of appreciation.....
George.Miller@mail.house.gov
And, as an aside, looks like that ass grabbing pervert Arnold had his slate jack-hammered into dust yesterday in California. Interesting that his opponent of yesteryear, Arianna, is being quite vocal about the despicability of the scumbag Chalabi, while the Gropinater tries to pave California in GOP slimetar. Says a bit about the "values" of the two, doesn't it?
There's something else I'd like to say here -- it enrages me that people like Chalabi and Perle have the inside track to the administration. They feed a venomous concoction of false intelligence and fantastic empire to Rice, Bush, Cheney, not to mention Congress, and they go unquestioned and without consequence for their effect on our country. These men have personally benefited from their 'service' while our country has lost its integrity carrying out the policy they promoted. They refuse to get it: It's about the torture, stupid.
Steve!?
How much is the Saudi Embassy paying for your anti-Chalabi tirades?
Maybe Chalabi can outbid them...Is that why you are making such a fuss?
Clemons, you are a hypocrite and you know it. Why don't you share the REAL reasons why you hate Chalabi? Or maybe you expect your readers to be idiots? Have you ever heard of google.com?
Byron -- Explain your point. My opposition to Chalabi is based on the fact that he is a duplicitous con man who conjured great numbers of lies and helped lead this nation into a reckless war. If you were a regular reader, you'd know that my writing on this point has been consistent since day one. What is the connection to the Saudi Embassy? I have no connection there. But I'd still like to know how you weave together Google.com, the Saudi Embassy, and me. Sounds interesting,
Steve Clemons
"Steve!?
How much is the Saudi Embassy paying for your anti-Chalabi tirades?
Maybe Chalabi can outbid them...Is that why you are making such a fuss?
Clemons, you are a hypocrite and you know it. Why don't you share the REAL reasons why you hate Chalabi? Or maybe you expect your readers to be idiots? Have you ever heard of google.com?"
Posted by Byron Vatsios at November 9, 2005 12:55 PM
Why don't YOU share the real reasons with us? Lets hear it. I'm a little curious how your attack on Clemons disputes, rebuts, or discredits anything that has been said here about the LYING SCUM Chalabi. Or is the ignorant bullshit we see you casting, above, as good as it gets from you?
Steve, who paid this scumbag $400,000 per month to feed us these lies? Shouldn't you be going after them with that same aggressiveness? Or are you afraid of the Zionist Neo-Cons from the Office of Special Plans and the Pentagon? You know what, if I were you, a visible public figure, I would be scared of the Mossad as well. Don't go suiciding yourself on us now.
Steve, you wrote:
My opposition to Chalabi is based on the fact that he is a duplicitous con man who conjured great numbers of lies and helped lead this nation into a reckless war.
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