by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright June 2, 2004
All Rights Reserved.

eclaring war on Osama bin Laden in 1998, CIA Director George J. Tenet staked his career on finding and killing America's most notorious enemy. Blowing up embassies in East Africa convinced Tenet that Al Qaeda was an implacable threat to U.S. national security, prompting his symbolic declaration of war. Few knew—other than Tenet—about the serious threat posed by Osama bin Laden, leading to the catastrophic ambush on Sept. 11. Tenet knew then, what he knows now, that Bin Laden, not Saddam Hussein, was America's number one enemy. Yet back in the late ‘90s, before President Bush stepped onto the world stage, Tenet supported Ahmad Chalabi's Iraqi National Congress, a group of exiles with offices in Tehran. With known ties to Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khameini, Chalabi cleverly played both sides, presenting a dangerous risk to U.S. national security.

      After fleecing the CIA during the Clinton years, Chalabi regained favor at the Bush White House. As investigative journalist Bob Woodward points out in “Plan of Attack,” Vice President Dick Cheney was obsessed with Saddam Hussein, well before Sept. 11. Chalabi became the perfect propaganda machine for the administration, fixated on taking down the Iraqi dictator. When President Bush cited British intelligence fingering Saddam seeking Yellowcake uranium from Niger in the 2003 State-of-the-Union, it turned out Chalabi's brother-in-law supplied the information. Around a month later, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell told the U.N. Security Council he had “corroborating” intelligence about Saddam's mobile weapons labs also through Chalabi's confederates. Trusting Chalabi was like giving the fox keys to the chicken coop—inexcusable for anyone in the intel biz.

      More recently, the New York Times now claims it was duped by the administration's case for war, including Chalabi's fraudulent intelligence. Chalabi's right saying he's been set up by the administration. There's absolutely no plausible case that the administration or the New York Times got buffaloed. They chose to report exactly what they were fed to advance respective agendas. Using Chalabi's lies advanced the White House's case for war. For the New York Times, it made sensational headlines, keeping ad rates in outer space. Giving Chalabi security clearance was itself a breach of national security. Chalabi can't be indicted or tried for treason. Yet high ranking U.S. officials entrusted a known felon with closely guarded secrets about cracking Iran's encryption codes. Embracing Chalabi recklessly risked irreversible damage to U.S. covert activity.

      Chalabi claims he's innocent of leaking secrets to Iran's Baghdad station chief in Iran's Intelligence and Security Ministry. According the New York Times, Chalabi informed high-ranking Iranian officials that the U.S. had broken encryption codes, triggering a series of encrypted cables back to Tehran. “This is highly sensitive, highly classified material,” said an unnamed Pentagon official. “Intercepts are the crown jewels,” referring to Iran getting tipped off to U.S. secret encryption operations. Chalabi insists that he's a victim of a cheap political hit by Bush's chief strategist Karl Rove. Yet it was Chalabi—and he alone—from whom the White House made its best case for war. When the nuclear threat fizzled, Chalabi concocted phony intel about mobile germ weapons laboratories. Chalabi received $340,000 a month from the Pentagon until cutting him off last month.

      Before becoming a political liability, Chalabi served as the administration's eyes-and-ears in Iraq and Iran. With close ties in Iran, the U.S. thought it could kill two birds with one stone, but, instead, got out-maneuvered by a treacherous double agent, breaching national security. From CIA Director George Tenet to FBI Director Robert Mueller, from Secretary of State Colin Powell to National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, from Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to Vice President Dick Cheney and his boss, they all exploited Ahmed Chalabi for their own purposes. Chalabi's right telling the press the administration had every opportunity to vet his information. Now that Chalabi's outed as a double agent, he must be brought to justice. Still at large, he has no intention of surrendering to U.S. authorities. Tenet must step up to the plate and redeem his mistakes.

      All the feeble excuses about Chalabi must take a back seat to correcting the breach to U.S. national security. Blaming Chalabi doesn't excuse the current administration—or past one—from compromising classified information. Setting a bad precedent, Clinton intelligence officials gave Chalabi encryption software and equipment in the late ‘90s. Though Chalabi denies access to classified material or documents, the facts say otherwise. Not satisfied with his Pentagon stipend, Chalabi no doubt double-dipped with his Iranian friends. Connecting the dots, there's a dangerous link between Iraq's Shiite community and Iran's Ayatollah Khameini. Turning over power to Iraq's Shiites practically guarantees loyalty to Tehran—the real axis of evil in the Persian Gulf. With Iraq's sovereignty less than a month away and Tehran feverishly pursing fissile material, the U.S. needs a new CIA director.

About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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