The Blame Game
Chalabi joins the ‘fun’:
So, Ahmad Chalabi, what went wrong in Iraq in the war you helped to sell? “The Americans sold us out,� he tells longtime Baghdad reporter Dexter Filkins in a lengthy cover story in this coming Sunday’s New York Times Magazine, reviewed by E&P.
Chalabi was the Iraqi exile who worked — via everyone from Paul Wolfowitz to Judith Miller — to convince America to topple Saddam in 2003 (not that many in the administration needed much convincing).
Now, in an interview in his London home, Chalabi, betraying what Filkins calls “a touch of bitterness,� declares, “The real culprit in all this is Wolfowitz,� the former assistant secretary of defense, whom he still considers a friend. “They chickened out. The Pentagon guys chickened out…The Americans screwed it up.�
But that’s not because they did too little but, rather, too much. Chalabi thinks the U.S. should have exited quickly and turned things over to Iraqis, such as himself and Moktada al-Sadr. “It was a puppet show!” he says referring to the occupation. “The worst of all worlds. We were in charge, and we had no power.â€?
He adds: “America betrays its friends. It sets them up and betrays them. I’d rather be America’s enemy.�
Of course Chalabi does in no way take any kind of responsibility himself. His main message is: the US should have given me (unlimited) power.
For those who have read Woodward’s State of Denial, Chalabis attitude is… ironic.
If someone wasn’t able to lead Iraq, it’s Chalabi.
7 Responses to “The Blame Game”
You have 3000 US dead and up to 600,000 dead in Iraq. The politician cannot leave the Greenzone and this ASSHOLE is doing an interview from his london home. We were conned by this asshole, Chalabi should be on trial with Saddam.
Rudi,
from his London multi-milionair home if i am not mistaken.
Why is he still around? Does anyone know what happened with the charges that he was feeding Iran intel? I’m also pretty sure he’s still wanted for millions of dollars of graft and corruption from when he ran parts of the Iraqi government.
Normally I oppose extraordinary rendition. But seriously, isn’t there some middle eastern thugocracy we can airmail this fatuous fraud to?
Does this go with the Perle and co. demouncments in Vanity Fair????
Wolves eat thier young.
Chalabi and al-Sadr running Iraq. Now that would be a bigger ‘circle jerk’ than what’s going on now.
And this idiot was invited to the State of the Union…to sit next to Laura. What a disgrace of a Presidency.