NationStates Jolt Archive

Iran Outsmarted United States (http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-uschal0522,0,340595.story?coll=ny-top-span-headlines)

"...U.S.-funded arm of Ahmed Chalabi's Iraqi National Congress has been used for years by Iranian intelligence to pass disinformation to the United States and to collect highly sensitive American secrets...

"Iranian intelligence has been manipulating the United States through Chalabi by furnishing through his Information Collection Program information to provoke the United States into getting rid of Saddam Hussein," said an intelligence source Friday who was briefed on the Defense Intelligence Agency's conclusions, which were based on a review of thousands of internal documents."

:D

Well thats odd...but then again most of our inteligence is collected from orbit..we need to get back to using spies i mean if our enemy has infiltrated our ranks why not do the same I mean one of our best qualities are being sneaky isnt it? :P

It's been difficult to turn Americans of Arab descent and enlist them into either groups like the NSA or CIA..We spent 50 yrs training blond/brunette white guys who could fit into any Eastern European or Soviet setting because that was the primary focus of intelligence efforts, only in the last..perhaps decade have we put any effort into training Middle Eastern assets....but it takes years to train an agent...and place him/her in positions where they could be useful..and there is no guarantee that we could successfully turn local Arab assets to work for us. Bribery is an accepted form of commerce in the Middle East..they expect to be bribed...only the terms are open for discussion.

It's completely plausible that Chalabi has worked for the Iranians for years..perhaps being put into play after the first Gulf War with the intent to destabilize further the situation on the ground...a document here, a "scientiest" provided here...a picture here..and voila...instant hook,line, and sinker...it helps if our intel community WANTED to believe everything Chalabi might have fed us.

But seriously though. that is your definition of Irony right?

What's new? Nations are out-smarted each and everyday. The U.S. is no different.

Seriously, did we need that information to have a reason? I think their intelligence had very little impact - we've just been waiting for a reason for the last decade.

the sad truth is that people who did a bit of research on Chalabi would have realised that the bloke was up to no good....

The CIA said he was dodgy...but the Whitehouse in its infinite wisdom set up its own Intelligence group that rubber stamped everything that Chalabi has stated....

the sad truth is that people who did a bit of research on Chalabi would have realised that the bloke was up to no good....

The CIA said he was dodgy...but the Whitehouse in its infinite wisdom set up its own Intelligence group that rubber stamped everything that Chalabi has stated....

That's because he was Rumsfeld and Wolfwitz's Golden Boy and was telling them everything they wanted to hear. If there's egg on anyone's face, it should be theirs.

it helps if our intel community WANTED to believe everything Chalabi might have fed us.And that's the biggest problem with this administration--they have a theory and then find the facts that make their theory work, while ignoring everything else that might contradict it. It's endemic to this administration. It's happened in the EPA time and again in the last 3+ years.

it helps if our intel community WANTED to believe everything Chalabi might have fed us.And that's the biggest problem with this administration--they have a theory and then find the facts that make their theory work, while ignoring everything else that might contradict it. It's endemic to this administration. It's happened in the EPA time and again in the last 3+ years.

Every so often the CIA gets it right..they knew Chalabi was unreliable, it's no secret the man is wanted on embezzlement charges in Jordan, and this man was supposed to have the integrity to tell us that Saddam had WoMD's?

Yes.

Bush and Cheney had made up thier minds about Hussien years before they were ever elected to office.
Obviously, they intended to invade Iraq from the very outset.
WMD's or the so called "War on Terror" had very little to do with it.
The alledged WMD's were simply a convenient exscuse at the time..if they were anything but.....no other exscuse would have been used.
Listen to the news these days..that arguement is long gone.

Bush and Cheney had made up thier minds about Hussien years before they were ever elected to office.
Obviously, they intended to invade Iraq from the very outset.
WMD's or the so called "War on Terror" had very little to do with it.
The alledged WMD's were simply a convenient exscuse at the time..if they were anything but.....no other exscuse would have been used.
Listen to the news these days..that arguement is long gone.

Bush and Cheney had made up thier minds about Hussien years before they were ever elected to office.
Obviously, they intended to invade Iraq from the very outset.
WMD's or the so called "War on Terror" had very little to do with it.
The alledged WMD's were simply a convenient exscuse at the time..if they were anything but.....no other exscuse would have been used.
Listen to the news these days..that arguement is long gone.

Well yes but one thing I'd like to figure out was why they did it. Not rhetorical reasons, real ones. I swear they are screwing this up on purpose.

I DEMAND FROZEN TREATS!

I DEMAND MICROWAVE HEATED TREATS!

Chalabi, Arabic for sour grapes.

Chalabi, Arabic for sour grapes.

it helps if our intel community WANTED to believe everything Chalabi might have fed us.And that's the biggest problem with this administration--they have a theory and then find the facts that make their theory work, while ignoring everything else that might contradict it. It's endemic to this administration. It's happened in the EPA time and again in the last 3+ years.

It's more like they fire anyone who comes up with facts that contradict their theory and only put yes-men into any positions of power in the EPA, etc. And if that doesn't work, they just attempt to ban gov't funding to research so that their theories can't be disproven.

it helps if our intel community WANTED to believe everything Chalabi might have fed us.And that's the biggest problem with this administration--they have a theory and then find the facts that make their theory work, while ignoring everything else that might contradict it. It's endemic to this administration. It's happened in the EPA time and again in the last 3+ years.

It's more like they fire anyone who comes up with facts that contradict their theory and only put yes-men into any positions of power in the EPA, etc. And if that doesn't work, they just attempt to ban gov't funding to research so that their theories can't be disproven.

Even Republican hunting and fishing groups are sick of the way conservation efforts are getting killed off. They say Bush takes one public position, such as "I favor wetlands", and then does the exact opposite.

it helps if our intel community WANTED to believe everything Chalabi might have fed us.And that's the biggest problem with this administration--they have a theory and then find the facts that make their theory work, while ignoring everything else that might contradict it. It's endemic to this administration. It's happened in the EPA time and again in the last 3+ years.

Chalabi has ben working with US intel much longer than GWB. Why not also fault GB senior, Clinton, Gore and everyone else who reported intel based on his info?

I guess because it does not fit well into your little agenda. That is a dangerous game you play.

We dont know if this was played by both sides though. Yes the white house wanted the evidence and yes he wanted Iraq to get invaded. However, we dont know if the white house might also want a scape goat in terms of intelligence failures. This Iranian connection could be false but, given Chalabi's past I wouldnt put it behind him.