WHEN THE FIRING STOPS
KUWAIT CITY — U.S. military forces airlifted Ahmed Chalabi, the head of the Iraqi National Congress, into southern Iraq on Sunday, along with hundreds of followers described by his London-based opposition group as soldiers who will fight to topple Saddam Hussein.
Supporters and opponents of Chalabi interpreted the move as a Pentagon-backed bid to enhance his standing in postwar Iraq.
The force, called the 1st Battalion Free Iraqi Forces, is composed of fewer than 500 men but could grow to 700. It was flown early Sunday to a spot near the southern city of Nasiriyah. Officials downplayed its duties, saying most of the members would perform nonmilitary jobs, such as helping with humanitarian aid and local administration.
But the move suggested that top Pentagon officials hoped to rely on Chalabi and members of the Iraqi National Congress as the seed of a new government.
That has generated intense opposition from several high-ranking State Department and CIA officials, who have argued that Chalabi has little popular support and would be perceived as a U.S.-imposed leader.
These officials worry that Chalabi's quick ascension would send the wrong signal about the postwar political prospects of those who have remained inside Iraq during Hussein's 24-year rule. That, in turn, could have an impact on their willingness to embrace a new government.
Chalabi, born in 1945 to a wealthy banking family, has not been in Iraq since 1958, except for a period in the mid-1990s when he sought unsuccessfully to organize a mass uprising from a base in the Kurdish-controlled north. He is a member of the Shiite Muslim sect that is concentrated in the south and that makes up the majority of Iraq's population.
"The Pentagon keeps pushing ahead -- they've been relentless in their pursuit of a policy, which is to take these guys from the outside, led by Chalabi, and make them the next government of Iraq," said a well-placed U.S. official who requested anonymity.
A White House official downplayed the significance of Chalabi's airlift, saying the leadership of an interim authority for Iraq has not been decided.
"I would caution anybody against this sort of handicapping at this point as to who will be in the [interim authority] and who won't," a White House official said. He reiterated that President Bush's policy is to recruit interim Iraqi leaders from not only among exiles but also among Iraqis inside the country.
