Editorial: Making the most of a memory loss

Friday, Nov. 11, 2005 | 8:21 a.m.

Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Chalabi, evidently hoping bad memories and a forgiving White House would revive his faltering political career, met with top Bush administration officials this week, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

What's next? Chalabi and President Bush pedaling bikes around the ranch? In fairness, the Bush administration likely faced an awkward moment when it had to tell Chalabi that there would be no "official" welcome in the nation's capital.

But this Iraqi political opportunist whose misleading allegations encouraged the Bush administration to wage war on Iraq wasn't exactly shunned, either. Chalabi was offered what the Associated Press described as "a polite welcome" from the White House and Rice, and also granted meetings with Vice President Dick Cheney and the national security adviser, Stephen Hadley.

Those whose memories aren't as short as the White House administration's seem to be may recall Chalabi encouraging the Bush administration to wage war on Iraq through now-discredited claims. Saddam Hussein was linked to al-Qaida, Chalabi said, and had active programs to produce weapons of mass destruction. And the Iraqi people, he claimed, would joyfully greet the U.S. military invaders.

Many may also remember that the United States paid Chalabi and his coalition of anti-Saddam Iraqis nearly $40 million over two years for intelligence information on Iraq. Chalabi also told Iran -- a spoke in Bush's Axis of Evil -- that the U.S. intelligence officials had broke Iran's secret communications codes.

When reporters later Wednesday asked Chalabi whether he had given the Bush administration misleading information before the war with Iraq, Chalabi dodged by saying, "It's more important to look to the future than to the past."

That's true when you're a charlatan whose past shows you weren't exactly honest with the people with whom you are trying to rebuild alliances.