Meeting With (INC) Leader Ahmed Chalabi
Iraq National Congress (INC) leader Ahmed Chalabi met with JINSA on Friday, October 25. Chalabi called upon the United States to provide political and financial support to his organization as it seeks the establishment of democracy in Iraq. The INC, formed in October 1992, is the largest anti-Saddam movement operating in and outside of Iraq.
Whereas U.S. policy has focused on the containment of Saddam’s Iraq, Chalabi contended that Saddam cannot be contained.”The only way to contain Saddam Hussein is to get rid of him.”
Iraq National Congress (INC) leader Ahmed Chalabi met with JINSA on Friday, October 25. Chalabi called upon the United States to provide political and financial support to his organization as it seeks the establishment of democracy in Iraq. The INC, formed in October 1992, is the largest anti-Saddam movement operating in and outside of Iraq.
Whereas U.S. policy has focused on the containment of Saddam’s Iraq, Chalabi contended that Saddam cannot be contained.”The only way to contain Saddam Hussein is to get rid of him.”
The INC strategy to depose Saddam does not require foreign troops or U.S. military action, according to Chalabi. The liberated areas – those areas outside Saddams control – can be expanded wit the help of defecting Iraqi military units, which have suffered from low salaries and poor living conditions under Saddam. Iraq after saddam “can establish a parity in the region which would reduce the need for a U.S. presence,” said Chalabi.
The U.S. may regard INC strategy as “high risk,” as compared with a classical coup d’etat. Chalabi pointed out, however, that Saddam has penetrated every military conspiracy that the U.S. has been involved in since 1991. Whereas other Gulf countries do not have sufficient resources to challenge Saddam, the U.S. can oversee INC’s strategy to overthrow the ruler.
Of Iraq’s $1.2 billion in annual income, 40% is spent on WMD and repression, Chalabi said. Saddam continues to violate UB Resolution 687, which requires that Iraq make known all of its non-conventional weaponry as a prerequisite to the lifting of UN sanctions. Saddam has bypassed $15 billion a year in oil revenues to maintain a hold over his weapons. According to Chalabi, this means that “He intends to use them.”
Chalabi reminded the JINSA delegation that Saddam has called for a “violent revolution” against Israel. Remnants of the Abu Nidal and Abu Ibrahim terrorist groups operate out of Iraq, and Palestinian police also train there. Saddam is not threatened by Israel’s nuclear weapons capability. He can spare the 10,000 men, according to Chalabi. In the name of U.S. and Israeli national security, Chalabi called on JINSA to “support us in getting our ideas adopted in Congress.”
With world’s second largest oil reserves, an active and intelligent population and a large market for infrastructure development, Iraq is ripe for foreign investment under a new government. Iraq would boost the economies of other countries in the region, according to Chalabi. “The people are ready for democracy,” he said. But this can be accomplished only if the U.S. supports Saddam’s overthrow and ensures the flow of food and supplies under a democratic regime.
XXX
A JINSA delegation also met in October with Dr. Taner Etkin, Defense and Foreign Minister of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Dr. Etkin described the history of Greek-Turkish negotiations over the divided island and engaged in a discussion of the TRNC’s options for improving its political position.