Senior U.S. officials told 60 Minutes Correspondent Lesley Stahl that they have evidence Chalabi has been passing highly-classified U.S. intelligence to Iran.
The evidence shows that Chalabi personally gave Iranian intelligence officers information so sensitive that if revealed it could, quote, "get Americans killed." The evidence is said to be "rock solid."
Sources have told Stahl a high-level investigation is underway into who in the U.S. government gave Chalabi such sensitive information in the first place.
[Gee, I wonder who that could be?]
In addition, sources told Stahl that one of Chalabi's closest confidantes — a senior member of his organization, the Iraqi national congress — is believed to have been recruited by Iran's intelligence agency, the Ministry of Information and Security (MOIS) — and is on their payroll.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/05/20/iraq/main618637.shtml
And in the nick of time!:
"Earlier this week, the U.S. ended the $340,000 monthly payment it was making to Chalabi's Iraqi National Congress. That action was followed by the raid on his Baghdad home." -------------------------- If A. Cockburn has it correct, the result could be Chalabi as a link between the Iranian Mullacracy and Israeli Likud in the breakup of Iraq, where Chalabi or a Chalabi-like character plays surrogate for the extension of Iranian influence into Southern Iraq.
The Arab Gulf clients and Saudi Arabia couldn't possibly be happy with this result. The consequence would be to further compromise U.S relations with its Arab clients. To compensate, the U.S. would have to draw into further confrontation with Iran, a course already prepared and slated by the neocons, only without a Saddam proxy to do the dirty work this time. Bingo - the result will be a U.S. further bogged down and hamstrung in the Middle East, with fewer friends than ever. Except for good'ole Israel, upon whom the U.S. will have to depend more than ever in that region.
How can our Beltway knuckleheads ever hope to outwit the many foxes on the loose in the Middle East?