"Chalabi's visit is the political version of getting the band back together.
And, having orchestrated the greatest career makeover since Paris Hilton went from Internet porn curiosity to Vanity Fair cover girl, Chalabi has now set his sights on becoming Iraq's new prime minister following the next round of voting on Dec. 15.
Not bad for a guy who, less than two years ago, was being accused by the Bush administration of passing intelligence to Iran that could 'get people killed.'
But, apparently, now that Chalabi is a power player in Iraq, all appears forgiven. At least around the White House. The rest of us, on the other hand, would do well to remember that this is still the guy who:
* was a prime source of trumped up claims about Saddam's WMD
* bamboozled the Bushies while pocketing $340,000 a month from the US government
* tried to sabotage the UN's efforts to put in place an interim government in Iraq
* helped the White House Iraq Group sell the war by regularly passing faulty intel to Judy Miller
* introduced Curveball, another bogus source on WMD, to the intelligence community
* was accused of spying for the Iranians
* controlled a group of thugs accused of fraud, torture, kidnapping, and misuse of U.S. funds
* was convicted in abstentia of embezzling millions of dollars in Jordan in the 1980ies.
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