CIA to Investigate Chalabi, U.S. Officials Say

[maddezmom]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The CIA (news - web sites) will investigate whether former Iraqi exile Ahmad Chalabi leaked U.S. secrets and the FBI (news - web sites) is seeking to learn who may have passed him sensitive information on Iran's spy service, U.S. officials and lawmakers said on Wednesday.


The government officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Chalabi was alleged to have told Iran that the United States had broken secret communication codes used by Tehran's spy service.


On Capitol Hill, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice (news - web sites) told U.S. lawmakers that CIA Director George Tenet would be conducting an inquiry. She did not elaborate, lawmakers said after the closed briefing.


The FBI is conducting an intelligence investigation to determine who provided classified information to Chalabi and whether that person was authorized to provide the information, a source familiar with the investigation said.

~snip~
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=578&e=10&u=/nm/20040602/pl_nm/iraq_usa_chalabi_dc

[gWbush is Mabus]

1. I'm glad Tenet is on it, that really eases my mind

[Justitia]

8. Yeah, I'd only be more confident of Mr. Magoo -eom

[Media_Lies_Daily]

15. You really don't get it, do you?....

...The CIA has been after the NeoCons ever since Valerie Plame was exposed as a CIA operative. Who do you think has been responsible for the vast majority of damaging leaks against the NeoCons since that time?

Additionally, tenet also told Bush not to discuss Iraqi WMDs in his State of the Union address, and he told Powell not to discuss Iraqi WMDs in his address to the UN.

The CIA also backed out of the torture plan that the Pentagon wanted to use in Iraq, as opposed to the methods used by the CIA in Afghanistan.

[struggle4progress]

30. Maybe the White House could generate even more goodwill ...

by blaming Chalabi's double-cross on the CIA! :bounce:

[malachi]

31. It's a little fuckin' late, ain't it?

Just a hunch, but shouldn't they ahve investigated him before they paid him? Geniuses all.

[daa]

2. What ever happened to shooting people

for treason, like this Chalabi and whoever fed him the information? Why did he need to know about the code. It is TREASON.

[MidwestTransplant]

9. Chalabi is not guilty of Treason, who ever gave him the info is.

[htuttle]

10. True. Chalabi has been acting like a completely honorable...

...Iranian Secret Agent.

He's just doing his job, and apparently a damn fine one at that (if you're Iranian).

[MidwestTransplant]

16. My point was that he's not an American so he can't be guilty of Treason

[maddezmom]

18. the leaker is guilty of treason

and I'll bet the leaker has ties to the VP

[htuttle]

22. Exactly

My point is that the anger at Chalabi for this is also a little misplaced. Why should Americans expect Chalabi to act in their interests? Please note: I don't mean this as a 'defense' of Chalabi -- I think it is just a simple statement of reality.

We should be angry at the idiots at the Pentagon who trusted and confided in Chalabi when so many said he shouldn't be trusted.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

17. If you believe the "giving Iran secrets" part of the story. Somehow,....

...I doubt seriously that Chalabi would still be walking around if that part of the story was really true.

[Beetwasher]

24. Chalabi May Very Well Have LOT'S of " life Insurance"

Who knows what else he got his grubby little hands on and where he's keeping it and who has copies?

[emad]

3. Chalabi, Allawi and Yawer: all renegade ex-Mossad asses

bankrolled by Poppy.

Can't be much longer before this rectal polyp finally bursts....

[Just Me]

11. You have no idea how much I hope you are correct!!! n/t

[UpInArms]

4. on page 2 of the article,

they saved the best for there:

The revelations about Chalabi emerged a day after Bush distanced himself from the one-time top U.S. ally.

In the Rose Garden to praise newly announced Iraqi leaders, Bush said he had had little personal contact with Chalabi and that decisions on whether to include him or not in the new Iraqi interim government were made by the U.N. envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi.

Chalabi, a former Pentagon favorite once seen as a potential national leader, had urged U.S. officials to invade Iraq as head of the exile group, the Iraqi National Congress.

Citing doubts about the intelligence the INC provided, the Pentagon now has cut off the group's $340,000 a month stipend, while Chalabi himself has publicly butted heads with the U.S. government and accused the CIA of smearing him.

[htuttle]

5. Doing a background check now AFTER he leaked secrets to Iran?

Brilliant!

[Justitia]

6. gee, can we get any of those GOBS of $$$ back?

Pretty please?

The Bu$hCo is a bunch of stupid suckers.

[CaptainClark23]

7. I Know! I Know!

It was Chalabi! In the in the trunk! With a code book!

Gee this is fun! Can we do Richard Perle now?

[amber dog democrat]

12. This is treasonous behavior on one hand

and a violation of rules governing classified material on the other.
It used to be the government took a dim view of these activities.
Will is be persued as diligently as.... the Anthrax Murders, Valerie Plames outing and now, the Prisoner abuse scandals.

Where is Claude Raines when we need him to " round up the usual suspects :?

[LiviaOlivia]

14. Mr. Novak, where were you on the the night of......?

eom

[Claire Beth]

20. yeah, really!!!!!!!!!! n/t

[justjones]

13. Our government is a complete and utter fucking joke.

If we didn't already know plenty of folks in the State and Defense Dept investigated Chalabi and concluded he was a crook, it would be easy to figure out that they should have investigated him BEFORE we were bankrolling him, let alone illegally sharing secrets with him.

Wait, I guess I should say the government thinks we are complete and utter idiots.....

[Just Me]

19. Where were the anonymous officials who initially reported this from?

Was it the State Department or was it the CIA?

Moreover, I would choke if "intelligence" information wasn't already in hand about WHO passed this info (in total breach of "national security") to Chalabi.

[yellowcanine]

21. You know it's a whitewash if Rice, Cheney, Rumsfield, Wolfowitz, Feith,

and Scooter Libby are not deposed.

[jeff5]

23. You Think They Won't Lie Under Oath??

It's a requirement to join the Merry Band of Chickenhawks (MBOC) that you be able to not only lie with a straight face but be able to tell a directly contradictory lie the next day with a smile or a smirk.

[DavidFL]

36. Or answer every question with "I don't recall."

They've had plenty of practice with this the first time around during Iran-Contra.

[NNN0LHI]

25. OK. We have the CIA, FBI, and the USA all investigating this prick

And the motherscratcher is still walking the streets a free man. Sonuvabitch!

Don

[Cocoa]

29. why hasn't he been arrested?

a simple question, has any reporter asked anyone this?

[struggle4progress]

26. Iraqi politician Ahmad Chalabi branded as ''stupid''...

Iraqi politician Ahmad Chalabi branded as ''stupid'' Wednesday reports that he or his followers told Iran the United States had cracked some of Tehran's secret codes.
<snip>

''Where would I get this from?'' Chalabi asked. ''I have no such information. How would I know anything about that? That's stupid from every aspect.''
<snip>

One official said that a raid last month on Chalabi's home in Baghdad was conducted to determine how he got the information and whom he shared it with. The FBI is already trying to determine if someone in the U.S. government gave the information to Chalabi, which would be a criminal offense for leaking highly classified material, the official said.
<snip>

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/154/world/NAJAF_Iraq_AP_Iraqi_politician:.shtml

[damnraddem]

27. The curse of Chalabi: even the Iranians won't believe him.

He told the Iranians that the US had broken their secret intelligence code. The Iranians obviously didn't believe him, because they sent the info to Tehran using the same 'secret' intelligence code. For once, Chalabi told them something true: the US HAD broken the code, so that's how they found out that Chalabi had disclosed the info. LOL!

But some idiot told Chalabi that the US had broken the Iranian code. That idiot believed in Chalabi when he or she should not have; the Iranians didn't believe him when they should have. Another LOL!

[Beetwasher]

28. We Don't Know Whether That's True Or Not

That could very well be dis-info.

For all we know Iran knew the US had broken the code for a long time and only sent the info to Iran that way because they WANTED the story to break.

[htuttle]

32. I'd say that is very probable

If the Iranian office in Baghdad really wanted to send a secure message to Tehran about their secure messages not being secure, it would be very easy to just send a messenger instead of using electronic methods. Iran is right next door!

[Beetwasher]

38. Actually, I'd Say It's Obvious!

But of course that's just IMO...:evilgrin:

[Malva Zebrina]

33. I am so happy that our CIA is on the job

[readmylips]

34. Funny how all the crooks wanted smallman bush to be president...

All the crooks knew that smallman bush was a stupid human being, and they knew they could carry on dirty business with cheney the heartless crook. Cheney of course, managed to select himself as the shadow president of the USA. The same crooks want to keep stupid bush in power so that they can continue their destruction of the world, with cheney's help. Chalabi didn't take his propositions directly to bush, he took it directly to cheney.

Why would a man with a known criminal record (much like the bush boys), would be allowed to roam the halls of the Pentagon, White House, etc. and sit next to the first lady? Chalabi is a known criminal. Our country is really foked up.

[tranche]

35. This one could reach the very top of the administration...

Regarding the message sent to Tehran:

"According to the message, which was read by the U.S., Chalabi claimed to have gotten the information from an unnamed American who was drunk, the Times said."

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/05/20/iraq/main618637.shtml

[Barrett808]

37. CBS: 'Drunk' American Blabs To Chalabi?

(CBS) FBI counter-intelligence agents are focusing on the highest levels of the Pentagon in their search for who told former Iraqi ally Ahmad Chalabi one of the nation's best kept secrets -- only to see Chalabi turn right around and share it with Iranian intelligence agents, reports CBS News Correspondent Jim Stewart.

Several news organizations, including CBS, The New York Times and Los Angeles Times learned of the alleged betrayal weeks ago. But the agencies agreed to withhold reporting it until now because of U.S. attempts to shore up the intelligence losses.

Chalabi was once held in high enough esteem to sit behind first lady Laura Bush during the state of the union address. He is alleged to have met in Baghdad with a top Iranian agent and disclosed to him that the U.S. had cracked Iran's secret codes and was eavesdropping on all Iranian intelligence messages.

Chalabi told the Iranians he learned about the code intercepts from an American who was "drunk" when he told him. What followed was a frantic exchange of messages between the Baghdad Iranian agent and his headquarters in Tehran all of which were intercepted and decoded by U.S. agents back here.

(more)

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/05/20/eveningnews/main618637.shtml

Any guesses who the drunk was?

[Cocoa]

39. well, what now?

so was Rice out of the loop on Tenet's resignation?

On Capitol Hill, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice (news - web sites) told U.S. lawmakers that CIA Director George Tenet would be conducting an inquiry. She did not elaborate, lawmakers said after the closed briefing.