Chalabi: The Survivor

Lesley Stahl Interviews Iraq's Ahmed Chalabi

(CBS) 

Chalabi says that Iraq is a country “full of hope” with a constitution and freedom, despite the fact that many Americans have a picture of a country falling apart. “We have brought down a totalitarian regime, and the United States helped us for that. It is a matter of patience.”

And he thinks the chances of Iraq becoming a theocracy like Iran are “very small. Close to zero.”

Before the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Chalabi promised that a post-Saddam Iraq would establish diplomatic relations with Israel. When asked if he still stood by those pronouncements, Chalabi said, “I'm not denying that there should be relations, but to say that this is a priority for Iraq now …”

“I didn't ask priority. I asked if you stand by what you said,” Stahl said.

“The answer is yes,” Chalabi said. “I see no reason why Iraq would not have relations with Israel.”

Besides allying himself with key religious figures, Chalabi also maneuvered his way into major centers of power within the government. Not only does he run the Energy Committee, he’s also in charge of something called the Contracts Committee, which approves all government contracts worth more than $3 million. Chalabi helped create it and now runs it. And that’s not all.

Fueled by his personal animosity toward Saddam Hussein and his Ba’ath party, Chalabi got himself named chairman of the de-Baathification commission which has been purging Ba’ath party members — many of them Sunnis — from government jobs.

The process of "de-Baathification" was initially supported by the Americans, but some now think that this program of purging people from Saddam Hussein’s regime is actually fueling the insurgency.

When Stahl mentioned that some people want the program to “dial back,” Chalabi said “We don’t do what they ask us.”

“And the premise is that it is fueling the insurgency,” Stahl said.

“It is false,” Chalabi replied.

Many of the people who have been purged under de-Baathification are Sunnis and, yet, as a measure of just how powerful Chalabi has become, Sunnis now come to him for favors.

For example, a group of Sunni tribal leaders paid him a visit to enlist his help in getting their sons — suspected insurgents — out of jail. Chalabi called on them to join the political process, and they told him they were not interested in democracy but that they need a strong leader. They offered him their support.

And now the Americans, recognizing his clout, are embracing him again. The White House has even approved his going to Washington for consultations later this month.

Here's how one U.S. official summed it up: Chalabi's been accused of corruption and spying for Iran. And, yet, because he is so effective, he's the guy the United States has to deal with.