Posted on 06/09/2004 11:44:31 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
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| New Iraqi PM Not Ashamed of CIA Links Wed Jun 9, 2004 01:09 PM ET
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - New Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said Wednesday he was not ashamed of having worked with the CIA and other intelligence agencies as head of an exiled group trying to destabilize Saddam Hussein's regime. "I was the head of a political organization in touch with at least 15 intelligence services across the world and in the region," Allawi said after a cabinet meeting. "We don't feel ashamed of having been in touch to liberate Iraq from the evil forces of Saddam." The New York Times reported Wednesday that Allawi's group, the Iraqi National Accord, sent agents into Baghdad in the early 1990s to plant bombs and sabotage government facilities. It cited former intelligence officials as saying they used car bombs and other explosive devices smuggled into Baghdad from northern Iraq. The bombings, whose effectiveness is disputed, never threatened Saddam's rule, they said. Allawi did not comment directly on the bombings, which the former Iraqi government claimed caused many civilian casualties, but said he had actively worked to shake the former regime. "We were in touch with a lot of governments, including the government of the United States, and we were in touch with intelligence agencies across the world who supported the struggle of the Iraqi people to get rid of Saddam," Allawi told reporters. Whether any civilians were killed could not be confirmed because the United States had no significant intelligence sources inside Iraq at that time, the Times said, citing a former CIA official. The U.S.-selected Iraqi Governing Council agreed by consensus last month to appoint Allawi to head a new interim government that will formally lead Iraq out of U.S.-led occupation on June 30. Allawi and tribal chief Ghazi Yawar, who was named president, were chosen for the top political posts rather than Ahmad Chalabi, another former Iraqi exile who was once a Pentagon favorite. The CIA plans to investigate whether Chalabi leaked U.S. secrets and the FBI is trying to find out who may have passed him sensitive information on Iran's spy service, U.S. officials and lawmakers have said. |
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So far, this guy looks like the real deal. If so, I wish him luck. He's going to need it.
Who was he going to work with to overthrow a mass murderer, if not intelligence services? The Red Cross? Amnesty International? The Little Sisters of the Poor? How does one overthrow a hyper-violent, hyper-repressive regime? By peaceful means, or by violence? It is evident that the main problem with the CIA's earlier efforts is that they were insufficiently violent. Many more people died because we shrank from the violence necessary to overthrow Saddam than died from the violence that finally toppled his regime. May the moral equivalence crowd at Reuters put that in their pipe (or someplace else) and smoke it.
This is going to leave a mark on the left-wingers who hate the CIA and America.... here in America.
This is a good man, and he's very courageous. I think the Iraqi people are going to continue to respect him. I do know that so far they are very proud of him and the new president.
Why would he? Odd title.
Leftist Media at work, I suppose, since they choose the titles.
Yes, I like what I read about him.
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