Tahir Jalil Habbush

who

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former head of the Iraqi Intelligence Service

According to Suskind, on pgs 363-368, and elsewhere in The Way of the World, Habbush was having secret meetings with a British MI 6 officer before the 2003 invasion.

history

early 1990s

Governor of Dhi Qar province

What is Dhi Qar? See wikipedia:Dhi Qar

Mid 1990s

Iraqi ministry of the interior, undersecretary for security affairs.

mid 1990s - 1999?

Police Chief of the country -

1999 - 2003

head of the Iraqi Intelligence Service

wanted by state dept

Habbush is wanted by the US government. As part of the State Department 'Rewards for Justice' program. Reward: One million dollars.

http://www.rewardsforjustice.net/index.cfm?page=iraqi_wanted&language=english

wanted by iraqi government?

According to Suskind, Pg 385, The Way of the World - "he's wanted for war crimes." Reward- $1 million.

Was he lying to british intelligence or telling the truth about WMDs?

Well, since no WMDs have been found in iraq, he was probably telling the truth.

At the time? Who knew? In Suskinds book, he puts it this way, by quoting Buzzy Krongard

[Buzzy Krongard -] "Twenty percent are saying he's the 'real McCoy and he's being truthful. Twenty percent are saying it's D and D: denial and deception. The rest are saying, Jeez, I don't know."

It appears that Buzzy is referring to the attitudes of people within the CIA here, although it is not exactly clear from Suskind's book.

suskind allegation - 5 million dolllars of hush money

pg 369, The Way of the World,

"At around this time, CIA worked out specifics of its arrangement "to resettle" the forer Iraqi intelligence chief. The agency agreed to pay him $5 million out of CIA's accounts. The amount, Richer says, was based "on an assessment of the information he provided and what he might provide in the future"

pg 373

"The White House . . . secretly resettled him in Jordan, paid him $5 million - which one could argue was hush money . . .

Question: So whose idea is the money? The white house or the CIA? Why would the white house ask the CIA to pay him off? Why not ask another agency? Why not ask a contractor, who could pay him off without any government oversight or traceability? Which contractors have overseas bank accounts (dont most of them?)

Question: Are there any laws about the CIA doing this? If I were the whitehouse, who would I ask about the legality of such a payoff? Who are the legal experts in the whitehouse, and what sort of paper trail would they have left in such an query? Are those queries part of the public record? What legal databases to whitehouse legal experts use?

'Hush Money' - Suskind used that phrase in several interviews: example: interview with Keith Olbermann, MSNBC, Aug 6 2008

Question: Isn't it kind of odd for the CIA to help somebody who the State department is trying to arrest? Why would they do that?

Question: How does Ron know this happened ? What are his sources?

Question: Why do some of Suskind's sources want to blow Habbush's cover? If his sources are CIA and ex-CIA, are they in conflict, apparently, with the part of the CIA that wanted to pay him 5 million and keep him safe and quiet? What other parts of the government are involved, which other sources is Suskind using ? Can he at least give us the departments these people were in, or are in?

Question: Are bureaucratic in-fights between parts of the US government, having some influence on what gets told to suskind and why?

Rob Richer quote about amount?

Question: In the quote above from pg 369 of the Way of the World, Suskind seems to imply that Richer has spoken of the 5 million dollar amount. Does Suskind have this on tape? Did Richer specifically talk about a pay off, or was it vague? Did Richer talk about a transfer of money? From whom, to whom, when, and for what reason? Did he talk about a -potential- transfer of money? Why? Who else in the CIA was thinking about that, and why?

Question: Rob Richer denies the forgery allegation, but does he deny the part about the 5 million dollar payoff to habbush?

timing of 5 million dollars

--- On Aug 11, 2008 , In an interview with Jon Stewart on the Comedy Central tv channel, he says that the 5 million was payed before the letter was written. It about 5 minutes and 0 seconds into the interview.

Who authorized the 5 million? Who would have payed it? How? Is there a swiss bank account involved? How are CIA payments regulated? Did the money come from the CIA or from elsewhere? What are suskinds sources on this stuff?

did habbush write the letter himself?

or did someone make up his handwriting? see suskinds interview with amy goodman / juan gonzales, aug 13/14 2008

Coughlin's article Does this link Saddam to 9/11? says this:

"There are people who are working with us who used to work with Habbush who are convinced that it is his handwriting and signature."

Now, who is that talking? His Iraqi sources... who? Allawi? What people who 'are working with us'. And who is 'us'?

other possible forgeries possibly involving habbush

link here

another link here

apparently there might have been letters linking George Galloway to Saddam or some crazy thing like that. this will take some digging i think.... i thought i had read somewhere that postwar iraq as full of forged documents. . .. . it seems as though it would have been a chaotic place...

If he wrote the letter, when and where did he do it?

Assume for a second Habbush did write the Habbush Letter.

Assume he did not write it before the war for a second. If he was 'smuggled' out of Iraq in or before March 2003, which Suskind claims, and the letter comes out the Telegraph paper in Dec 2003.... did Habbush write the letter when he was in Jordan?

Con Coughlin claims he got the letter from Ayad Allawi in Nov 2003, (see his article The Great WMD Conspiracy Theory Unravels]]). So... how did the letter get from Habbush to Allawi?

Where was he during the invasion?

According to Suskind, the US government helped him evade capture during the invasion.

pg 369, The Way of the World,

On March 19, the United States began its 'shock and awe' campaign. . . [Habbush] slipped out of Baghdad with the help of U.S. intelligence and into Amman, Jordan. . .

Where is he now

According to Suskind, as of 2008, he's in Jordan.

pg 385, [the way of the world]:

In 2003, Tahir Habbush settled in a large section of Amman, Jordan, called 'Little Baghdad'. . . Former U.S. Intelligence officials who've kept track of his status, say Habbush lives quietly, in modest though tasteful home behind a high gate. . . John Maguire says Habbush is protected by the Jordanians. . .

Vincent Cannistraro

The Guardian newspaper printed quotes from Vincent Cannistraro, claiming that he met with Habbush representatives in 2002.

Question: What evidence is there of such a meeting?

See also

wikipedia:Tahir_Jalil_Habbush_al-Tikriti

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