# Ahmad Chalabi: Best Hope for Iraq or Shady Expat Puppet?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ahmad-chalabi-best-hope-for-iraq-or-shady-expat-puppet/170872>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [April 24, 2003, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ahmad-chalabi-best-hope-for-iraq-or-shady-expat-puppet/170872 "2003-04-24T15:40:04Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 5

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**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\
**Post date:** [April 20, 2004, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ahmad-chalabi-best-hope-for-iraq-or-shady-expat-puppet/170872/81 "2004-04-20T14:35:43Z")

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> [@SimonX](#):
>
> _ **04-26-2003** _
> 
> I bet Chalabi won’t become the chief executive officer of Iraq.  
> I predict that Chalabi _will_ remain in charge of the INC.  
> I predict that:  
> INC members will hold _at least_ the major “purse-strings” offices, whatever those may be, and quite likely the major appropriations offices, whatever those may be;  
> INC members will _at least_ pick the officers for the important military commands and are likely to end up staffing the commands with themselves too;  
> INC members will do the same for the intelligence agency as for the military.
> 
> I think that there will be considerations made for the realtively unappetizing qualities of Chalaby and US backing. I suspect that Chalaby and the INC are a “first bid” by Rumsfeld et al. If the INC/Chalabi leadership thing flies great but if not the next guys “won’t look so bad” when compared to Chalaby.  
> I’m certainly not an expert. I’m too young to have made these sorts of predictions before.

\*\*[Christian Science Monitor\*\*](http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0311/dailyUpdate.html?s=entt)

In [Newsweek, Christopher Dickey](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4409622/) reports the staggering array of positions that Chalabi has come to control within the Governing Council. He is **head of the economics and finance committees** , which oversee the ministries of oil, finance, and trade, as well as the central bank and several private banks. **He also runs the De-Baathification Commission** , and thus – if he manages to hang on to the post – **holds potentially vast control over the flow of personnel into, or out of, any future Iraqi government**.

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**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\
**Post date:** [April 20, 2004, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ahmad-chalabi-best-hope-for-iraq-or-shady-expat-puppet/170872/82 "2004-04-20T16:53:19Z")

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Hey **SimonX** , does your crystal ball work as well on the stock market or the ponies? And if so, can I borrow it for a few hours?

One additional point about the de-Baathification post: I recently read that, as part of that deal, Chalabi got access to Saddam’s files, with all the blackmail possibilities that go with them.

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