Chalabi likely to succeed in new Iraq government, despite controversy

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/special_packages/iraq/13535019.htm

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Even though Ahmad Chalabi apparently lost badly in last month's parliamentary election here, the former Pentagon favorite is still likely to be a big player in the next Iraqi government.

The Dec. 15 vote went largely to ethnic and sectarian coalitions at the expense of secular slates, including his, preliminary returns indicate. That could leave him without a seat in parliament.

Yet the former exile who helped spur the U.S.-led invasion by feeding false intelligence to Washington about Saddam Hussein's alleged weapons of mass destruction, and who returned to Iraq after Saddam's fall to craft himself into a political leader, still has more cards to play. Characteristically, Chalabi, 61, could land on his feet in a high government post even though he failed to win even a minimum of votes from the Iraqi people.

"He is a very experienced politician," said political scientist Hazim Abdulhameed al-Nuaimi of Baghdad's Mustansiriya University. Chalabi has "the ability to retreat and start from zero." snip

While many ordinary Iraqis view Chalabi as a sneaky and corrupt outsider who brought U.S. forces to Iraq, Adil Abdel Mahdi, one of Iraq's two vice presidents and a member of the governing alliance, describes him as "an important figure. ... No one wants to get rid of him."

[bigtree]

1. As long as Bush is in office, Baghdad will use Chalabi

and he will use everyone else

[sallyseven]

2. He just took over the ministry of oil

they canned the other guy.