Why are we Paying Ahmed Chalabi???

This really upsets me, maybe I am crazy for thinking this way, but why the hell are we paying Ahmad Chalabi and his group about $340,000 (�190,000) a month for intelligence about insurgents and other matters.

$340,000 a Month!!!!!

www.guardian.co.uk...
Washington is paying the Iraqi National Congress exile group headed by Ahmad Chalabi about $340,000 (�190,000) a month for intelligence about insurgents and other matters, US officials said yesterday.
Mr Chalabi, a former exile and now a member of the Iraqi governing council, pushed for years for the US to topple Saddam Hussein.

Before the war, his group directed numerous Iraqi defectors to the US to provide intelligence from inside Iraq that critics now say was largely spun to alarm Washington into taking action against Baghdad.

Internal reports revealed that much of the information from the INC was either fabricated or useless.

But now, even with American forces on the ground in Iraq after toppling Saddam last April, the US government is still paying Mr Chalabi's exile group for information.

"We're still getting good information from them," one US official said. "There are a lot of insurgents that are doing bad things, and the INC has a lot of contacts and making better ones every day."

pay the regular Iraqis less money and we would probably recieve more credible information. I really dislike and distrust this Chalabi guy, just my own personal feeling here, but this crap is ridiculous...Umm what does our President make a year???


[Edited on 3-11-2004 by worldwatcher]

Actually doesn't sound like a bad idea to me. Ordinary Iraqis are much more likely to go to their own people rather than coalition forces to hand over info.
This isn't a personal payment to Chalabi or the INC. It's a fund that they use to pay informants.

I repeat! WE should not be paying this man and his group $340,000 a MONTH. He is not a trustworthy individual in my eyes.

www.iraqinews.com...
Dr. Ahmad Chalabi is a Shi'a Muslim. He is the son of a wealthy banking family whose grandfather, father and brother held prominent posts in Iraqi governments until Saddam Hussein's Baath Party seized power in 1968. He has not lived in Iraq since 1956, apart from a period organizing resistance in the Kurdish north in the mid-1990s. Chalabi was a math professor at the American University in Beirut until 1977. His main political support came from the US Congress, the Pentagon and parts of the CIA. The US State Department does not trust him and has raised questions about Iraqi National Congress's accounting practices. In 1995 he organized an uprising in the Northern Iraq, which was called off by the CIA at the crucial moment, and which subsequently led to the deaths of thousands of INC members. A highly controversial figure, he is charismatic and determined, though many also regard him as domineering. Since he left Jordan, Chalabi has resided in London and he is now a British citizen.

Political Activity
Dr. Ahmad Chalabi was leader of Iraqi National Congress until April of 1999, when he was demoted to the rank of an ordinary member. A collective leadership of seven persons, each representing one of the main opposition groups, was established in his place. He was the chairman of the Petra Bank in Jordan and was eventually convicted (in his absence) of fraud by a Jordanian court. He maintains he is innocent and says the Iraqi government trumped up the accusations.

Additional Information
Dr. Ahmad Chalabi has little support from leaders of the various Iraqi exile groups, or from Iraqis living in Iraq. The Arab governments in the Persian Gulf region have told the administration that they would not allow Chalabi to run a liberation army from their soil, even in an operation mounted with U.S. help. The ruling Sunnis of Saudi Arabia distrust Chalabi in part because he is Shi'a, a branch of Islam whose adherents make up just over half of Iraq's 22 million inhabitants. The Kuwaitis do not believe he could inspire a successful revolt and refuse to give him a staging area. Jordan would put him in jail were he to return because of the banking fraud. And on the other side of Iraq, Turkey wants nothing to do with Chalabi or his plan.




[Edited on 3-11-2004 by worldwatcher]

340,000..geez..not bad..

Thats plenty of money to keep himself rich,fund his associates..and buy tons of rpgs and ak-47s to pass out to insurgents..

Its a win win situation for him.. great call U.S. government..you never cease to amaze with you imense stupidity[well actually,its not really stupid because they know exactly what they are doing....what it is is UN-AMERICAN!]

I am rather surprised that more people are not are a little disturbed by this?

$340,000 a month!!!!!!!!!

for that kind of money I would create my own threats and tell the govt about it.

Chalabi did his job and and did it well. That job being to lie and fabricate invasion friendly information on Iraq.

The question shouldn't be why are we still paying him, but why isn't he already in jail along with those who paid him to do this?

[Edited on 11-3-2004 by heelstone]

just wanted to add, IT's about time, this man goes down. I say send him to Jordan, let them deal with him for his previous crimes.

US Troops and Iraq Police Surround Ahmad Chalabi's House; Aide Says It Was Raid to Step Up Political Pressure