The Chalabi Fiasco Continues

Wall Street Journal ^ | August 11, 2004 | Editorial

[OESY]

It's hard to see how the weekend arrest warrants for Ahmed Chalabi and his nephew Salem Chalabi advance the rule of law and the cause of justice in Iraq.

If nothing else, they raise the question of judicial priorities. Moqtada al Sadr, after all, remains on the loose. And despite the recent pounding his Mahdi militia has been taking from American forces, there is no indication that Iraq's new government intends to enforce its arrest warrant for the cleric himself.

Meanwhile, Iraq's Central Bank Governor has said that he issued no counterfeiting complaint against Ahmed Chalabi, contrary to the claims of the accusing judge in this case. As for the murder charges the same judge has levied against Salem -- a respected lawyer in charge of the tribunal prosecuting Saddam and his henchmen -- even Ahmed's enemies say they find them incredible.

...

One particular concern vis-a-vis the U.N. strategy was that Mr. Chalabi was starting to expose the massive corruption that had characterized the Oil for Food program. Just prior the May raid, Mr. Bremer shut down the KPMG investigation that Mr. Chalabi had initiated, and hired accountants Ernst & Young instead, for no apparent reason other than delay.

We acknowledge that some very serious allegations have been made against Mr. Chalabi in recent months. But not a single person has gone on record backing anonymous claims he spied for Iran.

...

It's worth noting, finally, that Mr. Chalabi's ex-colleagues on the Governing Council continue to stand by him. If this time around someone finally produces actual evidence against Mr. Chalabi, we'll be the first to acknowledge it. But so far it all smells of the same old smears, and of something other than the rule of law our soldiers are fighting to bring to Iraq.