Fallout

  Friday, 21 May 2004

. .< 11:31:14 AM>
Chalabi's Seat of Honor Lost to Open Political Warfare With U.S.

The raid on Ahmad Chalabi's offices was a remarkable reversal for a man who worked furiously to plot Saddam Hussein's fall. [New York Times: International] 'Over the years, the Iraqi National Congress has received about $33 million from the State Department, according to a new General Accounting Office report. In addition it got $6 million from the Defense Intelligence Agency. In return, Mr. Chalabi provided intelligence on weapons that one senior American intelligence official described earlier this week as "useless at best, and misleading at worst." Other officials say Mr. Chalabi's group was more accurate in identifying the whereabouts of former Saddam Hussein loyalists.'

< 11:27:33 AM>

Officials said they were seeking to arrest employees of Ahmad Chalabi who they believed were involved in kidnapping and embezzlement. [New York Times: International] 'The raid was a final rupture in what had been the administration's most important personal relationship in Iraq. It was the intelligence provided by Mr. Chalabi's network, and backed by Mr. Chalabi's ties to high-level Pentagon officials, that helped galvanize support in the Bush administration for an invasion of Iraq to topple Saddam Hussein.

But the relationship has markedly deteriorated in recent weeks as Mr. Chalabi criticized Americans for not turning over enough power to the new Iraqi government when sovereignty is formally restored on June 30. He also clashed with American officials over the decision to resurrect members of Mr. Hussein's Baath Party in positions of power.'

< 11:24:15 AM>

US election: One of Colin Powell's aides has shown TV viewers what the Bush administration is really like, says Philip James. [Guardian Unlimited] 'Russert got the chance to ask his last question of Powell, on how he felt now about all the bogus intelligence he was given to present as fact to the UN in the month before the war. But a much larger point had already been made: with the possible exception of Colin Powell, this administration believes itself to be beyond criticism.

The Soviet-style manner in which Republican operative Miller, who used to work for the majority leader, Tom "the Hammer" DeLay, tried to muzzle an interviewer once the questioning no longer pleased her betrayed an arrogance that goes to the core of this White House. [snip] the seeds of this administration's hubris are springing up all over.'

< 11:19:44 AM>

American soldiers shown abusing detainees at Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad. [Guardian Unlimited] 'Hooded and cloaked men are handcuffed to hallway rails. A prisoner in flexible handcuffs is made to use a banana to simulate anal sex. Two naked male detainees are handcuffed to each other. A naked detainee hangs upside down from a top bunk. Another naked detainee grimaces, his face pressed against the ground, a soldier bending his arm behind his back. Blood covers the detainee's left knee, and another soldier grabs his right leg. [snip] The situation inside the prison became so chaotic that U.S. soldiers turned their cameras on themselves, filming scenes of consensual sex.'

< 12:01:20 AM>

Survivors describe wedding massacre as generals refuse to apologise. [Guardian Unlimited] 'By the time the sun rose on Wednesday over the Rakat family house, the raid had claimed 42 lives, according to Hamdi Noor al-Alusi, manager of the al-Qaim general hospital, the nearest to the village.

Among the dead were 27 members of the extended Rakat family, their wedding guests and even the band of musicians hired to play at the ceremony, among them Hussein al-Ali from Ramadi, one of the most popular singers in western Iraq.'