Failure of Imagination on the Anti-Iraq-War side

CNN:

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. intelligence officials on Friday said Ahmed Chalabi, a member of the Iraqi Governing Council with ties to senior Pentagon officials, gave intelligence secrets to Iran so closely held in the U.S. government that only "a handful" of senior officials know them.

They also said there is evidence Chalabi met with a senior Iranian intelligence official described as a "nefarious figure" who has played a direct role in activities against the United States. This information was first reported on CBS News.

And according to Josh Marshall,

Much of the charges we're seeing here have been out there for some time, though not with quite the specifics or with such gravity.

I'm not interested right now in the truth of this, but in the potential anti-war strategy that is, in retrospect of course, blindingly obvious: Since Iran, which we also hate, is Iraq's biggest neighborhood enemy, a possible -- but unprincipled -- propaganda strategy a year and a half ago would have been to ask the pro-war faction, "Why are you intent on doing Iran a favor by overthrowing Saddam Hussein?" I don't remember anyone trying this out. But it's exactly the kind of irrelevant smear^* that the pro-wars have been flinging around for a couple of years now, and if the tables had been turned I now wonder if they wouldn't have come up with it. So should I be glad nobody on the anti-war side was scummy enough to go for it, or disappointed in the lack of savvy?

^*Unless Chalabi really was spying for Iran, in which case it's a relevant smear.
- posted by Don Porges @ 5/21/2004 11:39:00 PM |