Nightline Friday - Chalabi, Iraqification, and Military Recruiting

[RamboLiberal]

Looks like a good one - from their email:

TONIGHT'S FOCUS: He was a favorite of the Pentagon, often spoken of as a possible leader of the new Iraq. He provided some intelligence on WMD's, which has apparently turned out to be untrue. But he still remained on the U.S. payroll. Until recently. His office was raided yesterday...what's happening?

Ahmed Chalabi was sort of a constant figure in the Iraqi exile community. He really had no constituency in Iraq, but was sort of America's guy. He was very popular with the Pentagon, less so with the CIA. Much of the intelligence he and his Iraqi National Congress provided to the U.S. has been discredited. He went back to Iraq after Saddam's fall under American sponsorship, and was put on the Iraqi Governing Council. But recently that relationship with the U.S. has deteriorated. First, it was announced that members of the IGC could not serve in the post-June 30 Iraqi government. Mr.Chalabi was not pleased. He has started to distance himself from the U.S, and apparently vice versa. Yesterday, Iraqi forces, with some mysterious help from the U.S, raided his home and headquarters. There is talk of corruption, and even espionage. And his monthly payments from the U.S. have just recently been halted. So what has happened to our man in Baghdad? Correspondent Jim Wooten will trace the career, the rise and apparent fall, of Mr.Chalabi.

Correspondent Mike Cerre has recently returned from Iraq. He'll report tonight on what is being called "Iraqification." That word has echoes of course, for all of us who remember "Vietnamization," the policy of turning that war over to the South Vietnamese, with disastrous results. Mike will look at the efforts, and the problems, with trying to create a new Iraqi army and security structure that will actually be effective. And he'll look at the Army general who was considered one of the most effective commanders during the war and the first year of occupation. He has been sent back to Iraq to build an Iraqi security apparatus.

And finally, after dealing with the problems of recruiting Iraqis for the army and police force, we'll spend the day with some Army and Marine recruiters in the U.S, trying to get young Americans to sign up. Some want to serve in Iraq, some don't. But for all of the talk about money for college and job training, Iraq looms over each of those conversations.

So we have a lot of ground to cover tonight, I hope you'll join us, and have a great weekend.