The spokesman for Iraqi National Congress (INC), led by Ahmad Chalabi, said here Monday that Iran plays an important role in fostering peace and stability in Iraq. In an exclusive interview with al-Alam internet site Entifadh Qanbar said "we have the longest border with Iran and share many commonalties and together we can establish security, and embark on political and economic cooperation." He further said recent trip by the Iraqi prime minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari to Tehran is a token of independence of the Iraqi decision making apparatus and its independence from the US. "Iranian News Agency
We have now spent hundreds of billions of our money on the project of making Iraq into the foundation stone for the construction of a new "Greater Middle East," a region which will echo the values of 21st Century Europe and America and which will not harbor the animosities and communal hatreds which lead to Jihadi attacks.
We have done our utmost to enable and create a government in Iraq which is being built on the basis of "one man, one vote." There was a vote in January. We were absolutely giddy about success in holding the event in spite of the fact that the people fighting us in the insurgency did not vote and neither did their underground supporters. The insurgency went on in spite of the election and seemed to have accelerated. Now we have a constitution drafting process in place. This process is having trouble resolving such problematic issues as; women’s rights, federalism in a multi-national state and whether or not a government brought into being by the United States should have an official religion.
Now, these are tough questions.
!-Should women (half the population) be treated as adults?
2- Should the Kurds be allowed self-government or should they be ruled from Baghdad by a legislature inevitably dominated by Arabs?
3-Should the state be neutral in matters of religion or should some citizens always be just tolerated in their religion? (There probably won’t be any court cases over religious displays on government property in this new state)
And now we have the fearless former exiles of the Iraq National Congress (INC) under the stainless banner of that hero of democracy, Ahmed Chalabi, stating in Teheran that there will be CLOSE, CLOSE, cooperation between the Islamic Republic of Iran (world’s greatest state sponsor of Islamic terrorism) and the new, Shia dominated government of Iraq. Now, THEY are positively giddy over the prospects for military to military relations between the two countries and are quick to revel in the idea that this demonstrates "independence" from America, in other words from those who freed them from Saddam.
War between the US and Iran grows and grows as a possibility over the Iranian nuclear program. I wonder which side Chalabi and his SCIRI and Dawa’ friends will take if it comes to that.
Pat Lang
http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-236/0508020056014817.htm
Colonel,
Chalabi and his INC will most probably side with what saves their personal skins first, their Shia side second.
J
I couldn’t have put it better… pl
Colonel,
don’t you love being a ‘retd.’? i sure do. 🙂 lol. no more bag drags, late nite phone calls, no more being mr. ghost, no more tehenna and tabouli on a ‘regular basis’. lol now i can sit back and make google eyes at my lovely wife. don’t you love your ‘gold card’ that you now carry in your wallet? life’s grand, get to wear bib overalls and stretch your toes. and wiggle them in a pond when one wants to. lol
have a good morning.
J
A kindred spirit. pl
Angela,
Is democracy an unlimited “good?”
pl
is it wrond to say that with the war on Iraq we have completed a major part of the Islamic Revolution for Iran; although many years later?
Angela,
Thanks for answering the question. pl
One of the ways to see the developing situation in Iraq is as a complete failure on the part of the neo-Jacobins here to see that the Iranians would come out on top if the Iraqi Shia were enabled to the extent that we have attempted. Now we see Khalilzad in Baghdad trying to stick his finger in the dam to hold back the flood. pl
Angela,
Thanks for sharing. We can always benefit from an explanation of reality. pl
Speaking of personal skins, I hope I can get out of Baghdad if someone is crazy enough to bomb Iran, because we are finished in Iraq if that happens.
And then there is “south federalism” as they call it here. Would that be the new western region of Iran, out to Karbala governorate?
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/08/02/ex_agent_says_cia_wanted_false_data/
atrios comments link seems interesting, the ranks are thinning
par for the course?
“The lawyer, Roy Krieger, said his client initially asked the CIA’s inspector general to investigate allegations that CIA officials had pressured him to alter the intelligence and retaliated when he refused. But the inspector general rebuffed his request.
”If the CIA is telling him to falsify information, that’s potentially a crime. This merits an investigation, and if the CIA’s not going to do it, the only other place is the FBI,” Krieger said. An FBI spokesman declined to comment.”
As for Chalabi and Iran, that was the two bottles of perfume missing from the Niger embassy.
Perfume is the traditional gift of weddings in Persia. Iran and Iraq each get a gift of their new marriage union.
By the way Chalabi has an asset in the media on AP wire. He puts out anti Iran stories despite listing that as his byline location, and only making stories in English.
Doesn’t use dominant language, breaks the rules of Iranian press with no hindrance, and makes stories which have been proven wrong but continually recycled for talking points.
Sounds like an obvious double asset, if he’s legit. Probably is not and is submitting AP feeds from outside the country for propaganda.
He was one of the front page story higlights on Huffington Post yesterday, his story got pulled after my comments about him.
I’d name him but you can find who he is. He’s featured on the ILF page a lot.
October Surprise anyone?