You could almost predict it was coming, but on top of the embarrassing beatdown of America's favored man in Iraq, Ayad Allawi (who only pulled 13% of the popular vote), it seems
Ahmad "Curveball" Chalabi is in the running to be Iraqi Prime Minister.
In the words of Phil Hartman... "Delicious!"
From the Chicago Tribune:
If things had worked out differently, it might have been Ahmad Chalabi who was installed as prime minister by the American occupation authorities and Chalabi who made a poor showing in Iraq's historic election.
But the former Pentagon favorite took a different path. He fell out with his American sponsors, cozied up to the Shiites in the south and hitched his wagon to the powerful slate of candidates backed by Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani that won the largest share of the vote.
And now he's a candidate to become prime minister in Iraq's democratically elected government.
Meanwhile, the U.S.-appointed interim prime minister, Ayad Allawi, who replaced Chalabi as the Bush administration's favorite, failed to win broad support during his brief tenure and secured only 13.7 percent of the popular vote.
Chalabi is coy about his chances to become prime minister, and most other Iraqi politicians don't rate them high. There's a crowded field, and at least two other candidates appear more likely to win the post.
But as one of the top-ranked leaders of the winning slate in Iraq's election, Chalabi almost certainly is in the running for some job in the new government, signifying quite a comeback for the man whose political career was written off after his relationship with the Bush administration soured.
"I will serve in any position that is required," he said at his fortified home in Baghdad as a steady flow of visitors trooped around the concrete barricades.
Chalabi says he bears no ill will against the U.S., despite the humiliating raid on his house last year by U.S. and Iraqi forces and the allegations of spying for Iran that signaled his fall from grace. As prime minister he would seek "friendly" relations with Washington, he said.
"It's not a matter of personal issues. I'm not surprised by what happened," he said, comparing his treatment to that of French Gen. Charles de Gaulle during World War II. "This is a recurrent theme when America intervenes in other countries. Look at what happened to Gen. de Gaulle. They didn't treat him very well."
It would be the ultimate irony if America's project to democratize Iraq resulted in a government headed by the disgraced Chalabi, who has become, in the eyes of many Iraqis and Americans, a symbol of everything that went wrong with the U.S.-led invasion.
More...
Could this foray into Iraq have been a bigger screw-up?
- No WMD
- No link to Al Queda (at least, not until after the war)
- Still no Saddam trial
- Americans dying by the truckload (or unarmored Hummer-load might be more accurate)
- Missing billions in reconstruction money
- Halliburton looting the coffers while soldiers starve
- State sanctioned torture in Saddam's old jails by American soldiers
- And now the guy that started it all, Curveball, is likely to end up a high ranking official, even after the US raided his home and arrested him, in an Iraqi government that is buddies with Iran!
If you tried to screw this up, you really couldn't possibly do a better job than the Neocons have. Syria and Iran must be licking their lips.