There’s been a lot of commentary on the Elisabeth Bumiller piece in the NYT yesterday, Conservative Allies Take Chalabi Case to the White House. Bumiller characterizes the neocon visit – “a small delegation of them marched into the West Wing office of Condoleezza Rice, the national security adviser, to complain about the administration’s abrupt change of heart about Mr. Chalabi and to register their concerns about the course of the war in Iraq.” Pretty much everyone took off on the amusing image of a herd of incensed neocons descending on Condi Rice’s office, but Laura Rozen posts that this may not be accurate.
Secondly, about Condoleezza Rice’s meeting with the pro-Chalabi crowd last week. I am told Rice requested the meeting with Perle, Woolsey, Gingrich, Pletka, Rubin et al, to ask them not to go off the reservation, in reaction to the White House cut off of Chalabi. And if you have noticed, they have refrained for the most part from directing their public criticism directly at the White House, attacking the CIA, DIA and State instead for a policy decision that came from the very top.
Interesting possibility. Does this have anything to do with the Allawi/IGC coup of the past couple of days? Chalabi reportedly voted for Allawi. Whatever happened to “severing his connection” with the CPA and his suspension from the IGC? Juan Cole notes that calling what Chalabi had in mind a “coup” is exaggerated, but what happened with Allawi could fairly be called a coup, from the information available. Is there some connection between the White House ousting of Chalabi and the subsequent Allawi ascension? Is Chalabi even really ousted? If he is, why is he still participating in the IGC votes instead of twiddling his chubby thumbs in a cell in Abu Ghraib?