WASHINGTON — For an administration in political trouble, the distraction of a high-profile foreign visitor often serves as a welcome respite. But today's visit by Iraq's controversial deputy premier, Ahmad Chalabi, is hardly that.
Chalabi's planned meetings with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Treasury Secretary John W. Snow and national security advisor Stephen J. Hadley have heightened the debate swirling around the administration's use of intelligence to make the case for war against Iraq.
Chalabi -- a former exile closely linked to much of the now-discredited intelligence -- seems focused on refurbishing his image in Washington and boosting his possible candidacy for prime minister. Iraqis are scheduled to elect a new government Dec. 15.
Senior U.S. officials admit privately that they would like to keep his profile as low as possible on the trip. "This was his idea, not ours," said a U.S. official who requested anonymity when commenting on Chalabi.
The official said Chalabi would receive the same treatment as a less-flamboyant Iraqi politician also making the rounds in Washington this week, Vice President Adel Abdul Mehdi. Mehdi's meeting with Rice on Tuesday was closed to the media.
State Department spokesman Adam Ereli characterized Chalabi's visit as routine. "He is an official and a representative of the government of Iraq.... In that capacity, U.S. government officials regularly meet with [Chalabi]," Ereli told reporters Tuesday.
But keeping Chalabi out of the limelight has never been easy. This afternoon, for example, he is scheduled to give a speech at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, on the future of democracy in Iraq.
The institute's spokeswoman, Veronique Rodman, predicted a full house. "We've got 12 TV crews coming," she said.
Congressional Democrats, some of whom say their votes three years ago in favor of invading Iraq were based at least in part on assertions linked to Chalabi, are pressing him to come to Capitol Hill and answer questions.
Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) sent Chalabi a letter signed by himself and 17 other Democratic House members asking for a meeting "to discuss his role in manipulating the intelligence that led to war with Iraq."
Rep. George Miller (D-Martinez) issued a statement Tuesday calling on the Senate and House intelligence committees to subpoena Chalabi to testify "about his role in providing false intelligence about Iraq and leaking U.S. secrets to Iran."
