Chalabi Reinvents Himself as a Populist

[Snellius]

BAGHDAD — The U.S. has encountered many surprises in its efforts to forge a democratic government in Iraq, but few have been more unexpected than the transformation of Ahmad Chalabi from patrician exile to deft populist.

Chalabi is a survivor. Snubbed by the Bush administration neoconservatives who once embraced him, and excluded from the interim government, he is building a grass-roots coalition of Shiite Muslim groups who lack a voice in the new Iraq.

At the same time, he's reaching out to Iraq's most prominent anti-American Shiite cleric, Muqtada Sadr, whose followers come mainly from Baghdad's urban underclass and the impoverished south of the country. Political analysts here believe that the new approach will eventually win support from a significant segment of Sadr's followers if Chalabi chooses to run for office — and, as expected, Sadr chooses to wield his power from the pulpit instead.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/iraq/la-fg-chalabi29jul29,1,2955125.story?coll=la-home-headlines

[thebigidea]

1. I'm sure he'll find out how popular he is in Iraq soon enough.

[Aidoneus]

3. he's too 'entertaining' to kill off so soon..

I think that's why the resistance let him survive his fall from Crusader-Grace. He's pretty much got down on his knees before everybody.. Right when he was getting the Team W boot, I joked that within a year he'd be begging Sadr for an `abaya and RPG to hide behind. It was very rude of him to reach out to Sadr's people so quickly and upset my estimation.

[thebigidea]

6. It all would make for a killer movie... its got everything!

Intrigue! Espionage! Forgery! War! Exciting escapes in the trunks of cars!

Richard Perle continued to defend him after his fall from grace... but then again, we haven't heard much from Dickie recently. Probably holed up in his tragically ironic French villa, licking his wounds and smoothing over his combover.

[leftchick]

2. why hasn't the US arrested him?

Didn't he pass information to his Iranian buddys? Perhaps that is allowed if you are on chimpy*s payroll?

[lil-petunia]

4. 'cause he and Cheny are busom buddies

If you go hunting with him, the strangest things happen. Oh wait. Didn't a Supreme court justice do that, too?

[0007]

5. This whole scene boggles the mind.

[psychopomp]

7. "The Man Who Knew Too Much?"

:shrug:

[thebigidea]

8. "The Man Who Made Up Too Much"

[Disturbed]

9. Bush Admin.

They can't do anything about him. He has too much dirt on them. Even if they killed him he is cunning enough to have that info. with someone that will release it if he dies and he has told them that. He is a clever con man. He did give the OSP what they wanted; bogus info. for them to use to dupe the American public to invade Iraq. He admitted that saying that he and his people were "heroes in error".

[Sinistrous]

10. Right on schedule.

Chalabi has been positioning himself to take over as saviour of Iraq when the charade of democracy crumbles into chaos. He will then morph into a dictator, "President for Life", or some such.

Bush, Inc. is a mob of criminals, but they are not stupid. They knew democracy was a non-stater in Iraq and wanted a friendly to be the ultimate ruler, and see Chalibi as the one. Don't kid yourselves: Chalabi was and is Bush, Inc.'s boy in Bahgdad.

His current status as "bad boy" is elegant disinformation designed to enhance the impression among the Iraqi populace that he is on their side because the enemy (us) dumped him. He will, however, remain a puppet of Bush, Inc. He is alive today because Bush, Inc. wants him to be alive.