Coded Cable In 1995 Used Chalabi's Name

[UpInArms]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14020-2004Jun3.html

Ahmed Chalabi, the Iraqi politician suspected by U.S. authorities of having told Iran this spring that its secret communications code had been broken, was involved in an intercept episode nine years ago, according to senior administration officials.

Officials yesterday recounted an incident in early 1995 when Chalabi's name turned up in an encrypted Iranian cable reporting a purported CIA- backed plan to assassinate Saddam Hussein, then Iraq's president. The message was intercepted by U.S. intelligence and caused a major political stir in Washington.

Similarly, it was an intercept several weeks ago of another Iranian message -- this one from an agent in Baghdad to his superiors in Tehran saying Chalabi had told him that U.S. intelligence was able to read Iran's secret cables -- that has triggered a major counterintelligence probe and concern about Washington's future ability to monitor Iranian developments.

A U.S. law enforcement source said yesterday that FBI investigators, trying to determine the source of the leak, had interviewed at least one Defense Department employee in Baghdad and had administered a polygraph test. More tests were planned, some involving officials at the Pentagon, said the source who demanded anonymity because the investigation is secret. But several senior defense officials said yesterday that they knew of no one at the Pentagon who had yet been approached by investigators.

...more...

[Zen]

1. Yawn, just more of the same - this is what happens when a vengeful moron

fake President will do anything to seek revenge for his father.

[Trajan]

2. Isnt Pincus wonderful ? ...

I know he has his DU detractors for his past: but he has been a breath of fresh air the last 3 years ...

I would swear there is going to be a systematic and intentional series of devastating revelations regarding Bush/OSP malfeasance released by the CIA Careerists over the next few months ...

Tenet's resignation is related somehow ...

Just a hunch, but things are surely popping on that front ... Chalabi was the tipping point for the Professional Spooks who rejected the Neocon darling long ago as a dangerous fraud ...

Tenet's dislike for Chalabi is now well known ... and now he is leaving ..

Stay tuned ....

[maddezmom]

6. watched him last night on CNNI insight...he said to stay tuned

:)

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

3. This is gonna be more fun than the Watergate Days

Sort of like watching the Gods of Mt. Olympus fight, I guess.

[starroute]

4. That 1995 coup attempt must be the one led by Alawi

That is the Alawi who'se the newly-appointed prime minister and Chalabi's cousin and main rival. Alawi was always in tight with the CIA -- Chalabi wasn't. So I wonder what Chalabi's name would have been doing in that cable. Interesting . . .

[dansolo]

5. Did I read this correctly?

"Similarly, it was an intercept several weeks ago of another Iranian message -- this one from an agent in Baghdad to his superiors in Tehran saying Chalabi had told him that U.S. intelligence was able to read Iran's secret cables -- that has triggered a major counterintelligence probe and concern about Washington's future ability to monitor Iranian developments."

While I think that Chalabi is a scumbag and a crook, this almost makes it sound like the guy that he talked to was the Iranian spy, not Chalabi. If Chalabi wasn't aware that this guy was a spy, then he could have been unaware that the information he was relating was going to the Iranians. The security leak is a serious matter, but it almost looks like it was an overreaction by the Bush Administration.