wvrevy
Daddy to da' princess, which I guess makes me da'
- Joined
- Nov 7, 1999
- Messages
- 8,130
With the massive liberal bias in the media I'm always hearing about, why isn't the president called on these things ? He "had little contact with Chalabi" ? So, does the fact that he (Chalabi) was sitting right behind Laura Bush at the State of the Union (as a guest of the president) get pointed out ? Of course not. How about the fact that Chalabi essentially had Oval Office privelages, according to Time magazine ? Why can't this president EVER take responsibility for his screw ups ?
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Bush says he had little contact with Chalabi
01 Jun 2004 19:02:55 GMT
By David Morgan
WASHINGTON, June 1 (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush on Tuesday distanced himself from Iraqi exile leader Ahmad Chalabi, the one-time top U.S. ally who was passed over for a job in the country's new interim government.
In the Rose Garden to praise newly announced Iraqi leaders, Bush said he had had little personal contact with Chalabi and that decisions on whether to include him or not in the new interim government were made by the U.N. envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi.
"Mr. Brahimi made the decision on Chalabi, not the United States. Mr. Brahimi was the person that put together the group. And I haven't spoken to him or anybody on the ground as to why Chalabi wasn't taken," Bush said.
Chalabi, a former Pentagon favorite once seen as a potential national leader, urged U.S. officials to invade Iraq as head of the exile group, the Iraqi National Congress.
Citing doubts about the intelligence the INC provided, the Pentagon now has cut off the group's $340,000 a month stipend, while Chalabi himself has publicly butted heads with the U.S. government and accused the CIA of smearing him.
Bush said, "My meetings with him were very brief. I think I met with him at the State of the Union and just, kind of, working through the rope line, and he might have come with a group of leaders."
"But I haven't had any extensive conversations with him," the Republican president said.
Instead of choosing Chalabi for a top political post in post-war Iraq, the Iraqi Governing Council chose Iyad Allawi as prime minister and tribal chief Ghazi Yawar as president in consultation with Brahimi.
Earlier, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice acknowledged the U.S. relationship with Chalabi had soured but said Washington had never intended to pick Iraq's post-war leadership.
"Well, Ahmad Chalabi did, I think, a lot of good work on behalf of his country when he was in exile. And, yes, there was a relationship," she said at a White House briefing.
"It has not been an easy relationship of late. I think that you can see that. That's not hard to see," Rice added.
"We made clear months ago, really at the time of the liberation, that the United States was not going to bet on a particular horse or bet on a particular candidate, and that's been proven out here," she said.
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Bush says he had little contact with Chalabi
01 Jun 2004 19:02:55 GMT
By David Morgan
WASHINGTON, June 1 (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush on Tuesday distanced himself from Iraqi exile leader Ahmad Chalabi, the one-time top U.S. ally who was passed over for a job in the country's new interim government.
In the Rose Garden to praise newly announced Iraqi leaders, Bush said he had had little personal contact with Chalabi and that decisions on whether to include him or not in the new interim government were made by the U.N. envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi.
"Mr. Brahimi made the decision on Chalabi, not the United States. Mr. Brahimi was the person that put together the group. And I haven't spoken to him or anybody on the ground as to why Chalabi wasn't taken," Bush said.
Chalabi, a former Pentagon favorite once seen as a potential national leader, urged U.S. officials to invade Iraq as head of the exile group, the Iraqi National Congress.
Citing doubts about the intelligence the INC provided, the Pentagon now has cut off the group's $340,000 a month stipend, while Chalabi himself has publicly butted heads with the U.S. government and accused the CIA of smearing him.
Bush said, "My meetings with him were very brief. I think I met with him at the State of the Union and just, kind of, working through the rope line, and he might have come with a group of leaders."
"But I haven't had any extensive conversations with him," the Republican president said.
Instead of choosing Chalabi for a top political post in post-war Iraq, the Iraqi Governing Council chose Iyad Allawi as prime minister and tribal chief Ghazi Yawar as president in consultation with Brahimi.
Earlier, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice acknowledged the U.S. relationship with Chalabi had soured but said Washington had never intended to pick Iraq's post-war leadership.
"Well, Ahmad Chalabi did, I think, a lot of good work on behalf of his country when he was in exile. And, yes, there was a relationship," she said at a White House briefing.
"It has not been an easy relationship of late. I think that you can see that. That's not hard to see," Rice added.
"We made clear months ago, really at the time of the liberation, that the United States was not going to bet on a particular horse or bet on a particular candidate, and that's been proven out here," she said.
