Iraq: Chalabi Still Playing Central Role

In Newsweek today, Babak Dehghanpisheh writes that the head of Iraq’s Accountability and Justice Commission and Shi’a politician, Ahmad Chalabi, is continuing to find success while “playing the sectarian card” in national politics. Dehghanpisheh cautions that “what Chalabi wants isn’t always best for Iraq,” citing General Ray Odierno’s assertion in February that Chalabi had frequently traveled to Iran to coordinate with Iranian officials on  how to influence Iraq’s elections.  Moreover, Chalabi’s recent efforts to broker compromises between competing political blocs seem more like efforts “to ensure his own place in the next government,” according to Dehghanpisheh. As a “hard-nosed politician,” Chalabi has both worked to ensure the delivery of basic services like water and electricity to Iraqi communities and has “made plenty of enemies over the years” for using those projects for political ends.