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March 9, 2008

FLASHBACK: McCain Called Chalabi ‘A

Patriot’ With Iraq’s ‘Best Interests At
Heart’
Iraqi exile leader Ahmad Chalabi was one of the most sordid figures in the run-up to
the Iraq war. Paid by the Bush administration to muster pre-war intelligence, Chalabi
drummed up claims that Saddam Hussein had WMD, helping lead the United States
into war. More recently, he promoted the “surge” to the Iraqi government.
A new book by Aram Roston reveals that Chalabi supported John McCain (R-AZ) for
president in 2000, believing that the senator would be the most receptive to his
agenda. Muckraked reports:
One of his key backers has been John McCain, who was one of the first
patrons of Chalabi’s grand-sounding International Committee for a Free
Iraq when it was founded in 1991. McCain was Chalabi’s favored
candidate in the 2000 election since Chalabi knew that he
would be able to free up the $97 million in military aid plus
millions pushed through in Congress and earmarked for
Chalabi’s exile group, the Iraqi National Congress, but held up by
the Clinton State Department.
Indeed, McCain was a Chalabi backer long before President Bush took power. In 1997,
he tried to pressure the Clinton administration into setting up an Iraqi government in
exile. Despite opposition from the Pentagon and the State Department, the next fall,
McCain co-sponsored the Iraq Liberation Act, committing the United States to
overthrowing Saddam and funding opposition groups. According to a 2006 article by
John Judis:
McCain welcomed Ahmed Chalabi, leader of the Iraqi National
Congress (INC), to Washington and pressured the
administration to give him money. When General Anthony Zinni
cast doubt upon the effectiveness of the Iraqi opposition, McCain
rebuked him at a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
In 2003, McCain joined four other Republican senators and asked Bush to “personally
clear the bureaucratic roadblocks within the State Department” that blocked
increased funding for the Chalabi’s group.
Also that year, McCain said of Chalabi, “He’s a patriot who has the best interests of
his country at heart.”