Nancy Thomson

Following the end of the cold war the Department of Defense, CIA and other intelligence agencies had to justify their budgets. A leak from highly classified Defense Department in 1992 presented seven military scenarios that might transpire. At the top of the list was war with Iraq and North Korea. Another segment of this 1992 report spoke of the goal of world hegemony. It stated the strategy should focus on precluding any future global competitor. No other hostile country should dominate any region.

To prevent other nations acquiring nuclear weapons the US would be ready to act by itself on a military basis.

Is it a coincidence that "Rebuilding America's Defenses, a report of the Project for the New America Century (PNAC) proclaimed these same goals in 1997? Chairman of the Project William Kristol and others worked on the report in the offices of the Weekly Standard. Some of this group (known by various titles such as war hawks, neocons, or marxists in drag) found a home in the Defense Department courtesy of Donald Rumsfeld. One thing in common was their connections to Israel. Paul Wolfowitz became second in command of the Pentagon, while friend Douglas Feith was third from the top and placed in charge of policy. Perle was appointed as an consultant to the Defense Department. Others were involved in important Washington think tanks, the media, consulting business for congress, foreign lobbyists, and various government agencies.

As described in PNAC the first goal was to invade Iraq and depose Hussein. Empire building would follow as other Middle East countries would fall into the US orbit. Along the way Perle, Wolfowitz and Feith established their own intelligence committee inside the Defense Department. Soon this committee outranked the other intelligence agencies in the State and Defense Departments as well as the CIA. This insider group of neocons started making arrangements with exiles from Iraq following the US invasion of that country. A man named Ahmad Chalabi, leader of the Iraqi National Committee (INC) found favor with the neocons. Despite the fact that Chakabi spent most of his life in London, not Iraq, had been accused of bank fraud in Jordan and had other run -ins with the law, he was the favorite of Feith, Wolfowitz and Perle. Chalabi convinced the neocons that he would establish a government in Iraq favorable to Israel.

As a sign of his rising position Chalab was even chosen to sit behind Laura Bush during the President's State of the Union message. Ahmad produced three Iraqi "defectors" who claimed Hussein had weapons of mass destruction (WMd) biological mobile units, and a weapons installation under a hospital. The CIA and State Department, along with the "other Defense Department Intelligence agency" investigations proved these accusations were false. In fact previously Chalabi had tried three times to become a spy for the CIA and was turned down because he wasn't trusted. Giving his defector information to newspapers and other outlets Chalabi then sent his proteges over seas to Germany and England where they planted stories of Hussein's weapons of mass destruction and biological programs.

Bush, Powell and others used this disinformation from Chalabi in speeches and the WMD was presented as the first reason for invading Iraq. Meanwhile Prime Minister Blair of England was repeating the same disinformation.

Here I thought it was England who deceived us!

This disinformation didn't come cheap. Chalabi received $340,000 monthly from US taxpayers.

According to the state department Chalabi wasn't adept at accounting for his stipend from the government either. The Pentagon neocons had Cahlabi airlifted to Iraq where he headed the interim government. Many in Iraq didn't accept as leader a man who hadn't lived in their country for 25 years and had a dubious background.

Ahmad's recent fall from grace occurred as the Iraqi police backed up by US soldiers invaded his domicile taking records and other belongings. Authorities claimed Chalabi was conspiring with Iran because he was being left out of future Iraqi government plans. But who knows?

Wolfowitz, Perle, Feith and even Condeleeza Rice found out about the Chalabi raid on the television.