One-Finger Salute

Chalabi threatens to blackmail enemies

Perhaps there was a method to the madness of allowing reporters and others to wander around freely in Iraqi government buildings: Ahmad Chalabi claims to have tons of documents that contain information which could be damaging to certain parties.

Which parties?

In interviews with Abu Dhabi television and Newsweek magazine, Mr Chalabi has already threatened to use the papers to damage the Jordanian royal family... Mr Chalabi has repeatedly been accused of being a creature of the US government and was blamed for the collapse of the Petra bank, which he headed in Jordan in the 1980s. The Amman authorities convicted him of fraud and theft.

Well, there's certainly motivation there. I suppose it will make it easier for the Jordanian royal family and government to forget that unfortunate bank embezzlement episode and focus on the future.

Who else is implicated? Our old friend, Al Jazeera - an enemy that Chalabi and his American masters have in common. According to an INC spokesperson,

In the case of al-Jazeera, for example, it has been bombarding Arabs and Iraqis with false news for so long. Now we can put things right.

Chalabi himself had something to say:

Speaking on Abu Dhabi television, Mr Chalabi read from documents which he claimed showed a number of reporters for the Qatar-based al-Jazeera were working for Iraqi intelligence. "We will not allow this channel to continue its destructive work, which might lead to civil war in Iraq, through their lies and the spreading of rumours," Mr Chalabi said.

Sounds curiously similar to the Bush administration's line. Any guesses as to who this fountain of Iraqi intelligence documents will implicate next?

Powell: Military action against Syria not on table...or maybe it is

Is Colin Powell feeling ok these days? He has said that military action against Syria is "not on the table":

"The President always has a full range of political, economic, diplomatic and military options to pursue foreign policy objectives," he said.

"But I am here to pursue diplomacy and mutual political efforts that both sides can be taken and so the issue of war hostilities is not on the table"(emphasis added).

But in another article, Powell is reported as informing us that military action is "on the table":

General Powell said that there were many ways to confront a country, including diplomatic, political, economic and military ones. "The President has all of his options on the table," he said.

Here's an interesting transcript of an interview Powell gave to Jim Lehrer on 17 April 03 which includes dodges on the issues of Syria, military action and tables, and Israel's WMDs.

UPDATE: Powell threatens "consequences" for Syria if it is not helpful enough to the US as it pursues its new policy in the Middle East.