In spite of major advances in life and the appearance of dozens of
children oriented cable channels, the traditional and class
Commander
of U.S. forces in Iraq, General Odierno, injected himself
into
the Iraq elections by accusing chairman of the Accountability and
Justice
Commission, Dr. Ahmed Chalabi, of being unduly influenced by
iran.
The Commission is charged with removing 'Baathist' candidates.
Iraq News Agency, Iraq
Chalabi Tells
General Odierno: 'Mind Your Own Business'
"Odierno's comments come in
the context of a series of hysterical U.S. statements. … The accusation of
links with Iran is baseless, and is one of the false devices previously
promoted by the U.S. to belittle and break the back of Dr. Chalabi, who has
always opposed America's mistaken policies in Iraq."
Ahmed Chalabi (above) is one of Iraq's most divisive figures, who is said to have been the source of the faulty information the Bush Administration used to invade in 2003. He was later cut off by the Bush White House for 'unauthorized contacts with Iran.' He now heads Iraq's Accountability and Justice Commission, which is charged with disqualifying former members of Saddam's Baathist Party from standing in Iraq's national elections on March 7.
Ahmad Chalabi has
described statements regarding his relationship to
Iran by commander of U.S. forces Ray Odierno as an encroachment on Iraq's national symbols
and a flagrant interference
in Iraq's domestic affairs.
[Editor's Note:
According to the Washington
Times, General Odierno is quoted as saying in a speech that both the
chairman and the executive director of
the Accountability and Justice Commission, Dr.
Chalabi and Ali
Faisal al-Lami, have been in close contact with
Abu-Mahdi al-Muhandis, top Iraqi adviser to Iran's Quds Force commander. The
Quds Force comprises Iran's unconventional military units, which have
orchestrated anti-U.S. paramilitary and political operations in Iraq.]
The Accountability and
Justice Commission issued a statement: "Recently, the media quoted General
Ray Odierno, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, reiterating the allegations of
some American agencies about the existence of intelligence evidence related to,
as he said, 'Chalabi’s relationship with Iran.'"
"Odierno's statement
damaged the work of the Accountability and Justice Commission, when it threw
out corrosive charges at its executive director Ali
Faisal al-Lami, questioning the procedures imposed relating to
de-Baathification and the issue of which candidates in the March 7 Iraqi
elections should be subject to the rules of the Commission."
Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
"Odierno's comments come
in the context of a series of hysterical U.S. statements that intensified when
it became clear to all that America's scheme to bring the Baath back into the
political arena had crashed against the solid rock of unified Iraqi
resistance."
"We flatly condemn these
statements and consider it an encroachment on Iraq's national symbols as well
as a flagrant interference in Iraqi domestic affairs. We can only remind
General Odierno that he is a soldier and that the Iraqi elections are a
domestic issue outside of the nature of his mission in Iraq, which was
determined by the security agreement signed by the American and Iraqi
governments and which deals, first and foremost, with the security
situation."
"The accusation of links
with Iran is baseless, and is one of the false devices previously promoted by
the U.S. to belittle and break the back of Dr. Chalabi, who has always opposed
America's mistaken policies in Iraq since the days of civilian governor Paul Bremer. In the past,
U.S. forces have raided the home of Dr. Chalabi, violating its sanctity and
tampering with his belongings in a supposed look for intelligence evidence
demonstrating his involvement in unnatural relations with Iraq's
dear neighbor, Iran. Those troops, and whoever directed, them failed to uncover
anything that would have substantiated these false allegations."
We call upon General Odierno to focus on his assigned task
and not intervene in affairs that are none of his business.
The statement concludes:
"We are well aware that such false accusations come in the context of
political pressure initiated by Vice President Joe Biden to force the chairman
of the Accountability and Justice Commission to retreat from his patriotic and
legal duty to protect the political process from Baathist and Saddamite
infiltration. The U.S. ambassador in Baghdad, Mr. Christopher Hill, kept up the
pressure. But the unity of the Iraqi people, its political forces, and
especially the Iraqi
National Alliance, in defending and applying the Constitution, has defeated
such pressure. Similarly, an Iraqi court has handed down its independent
decision to defend the Constitution and the law. General Odierno should respect
the decisions of Iraq's independent judiciary.
[Editor's Note: U.S.
Ambassador Christopher Hill, backing up General Ray Ordierno's comments, is
quoted by Foreign PolicyMagazine'sThe Cable: "I absolutely agree with General Odierno on this. And absolutely,
these gentlemen are certainly under the influence of Iran. These were people,
or in the case of Chalabi, he was named by CPA administrator Bremer, back in
'03, as the head of the de-Baathification Committee. It was a committee that
went out of existence two years ago, replaced by the Accountability and Justice
Committee. Everyone else [on the committee] understood that their terms expired
with the expiration of the committee, except for Mr. Chalabi, who assumed by
himself the role of maintaining his position in a new committee to which he was
never named ... and I don't need to relate to you or anyone else here the fact
that this is a gentleman who has been challenged ... as a straightforward
individual."]
