(CBS News-60 Minutes) Lesley Stahl - To his supporters, Ahmed Chalabi is the George Washington of Iraq, a brilliant leader who is more responsible than anyone for persuading President Bush to invade Iraq. To his detractors, he is a snake-oil salesman whose bogus tales of weapons of mass destruction snookered the U.S. into a military quagmire. But there is one thing his friends and enemies agree on: Chalabi may be one of the most resilient and shrewd politicians alive. He is a deputy prime minister in Iraq. In May, he became the chairman of the Energy Committee with authority over Iraq's oil industry. Before the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Chalabi promised that a post-Saddam Iraq would establish diplomatic relations with Israel. When asked if he still stood by those pronouncements, Chalabi said, "I'm not denying that there should be relations, but to say that this is a priority for Iraq now...." "The answer is yes," Chalabi said. "I see no reason why Iraq would not have relations with Israel."
2005-10-03 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive