The Iraqi National Congress (INC) is an umbrella Iraqi opposition group led by Ahmed Chalabi. It was formed with the aid and direction of the United States government following the Gulf War, for the purpose of fomenting the overthrow of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. The Iraqi opposition can refer to two things: Pre-2003 : Iraqi anti-Saddam groups were composed of a number of groups in Iraq opposed to the Saddam regime. ... Ahmed Chalabi Ahmed Abdel Hadi Chalabi1 (Arabic: احمد الجلبي) (born October 30, 1944) is a deputy prime minister in Iraq, and formerly interim oil minister [1]. Once dubbed the George Washington of Iraq by American Neoconservatives, he has since fallen out of favor and is currently under investigation by several government sources. ... C Company, 1st Battalion, The Staffordshire Regiment, 1st UK Armoured Division The 1991 Gulf War was a conflict between Iraq and a coalition force of approximately 30 nations mandated by the United Nations and led by the United States. ... Saddam Hussein when he was the President of Iraq. ...

INC was set up following the Persian Gulf War to coordinate the activities of various anti-Saddam groups. Then President George Bush signed a presidential finding directing the Central Intelligence Agency to create conditions for Hussein's removal in May 1991. Coordinating anti-Saddam groups was an important element of this strategy. The name INC was reportedly coined by public relations expert John Rendon (of the Rendon Group agency) and the group was funded by the United States. The group received millions in covert funding in the 1990s, and then about $8 million a year in overt funding after the passage of the Iraq Liberation Act in 1998. The deep involvement of the American CIA in the creation and early funding of the INC in its early years led many to consider the group a "creation of the CIA" rather than an organ of genuine Iraqi opposition.[1] See also: 2003 invasion of Iraq and Gulf War (disambiguation) C Company, 1st Battalion, The Staffordshire Regiment, 1st UK Armoured Division The Persian Gulf War was a conflict between Iraq and a coalition force of 34 nations led by the United States. ... The President of the United States (unofficially abbreviated POTUS) is the head of state of the United States. ... Order: 41st President Term of Office: January 20, 1989–January 20, 1993 Preceded by: Ronald Reagan Succeeded by: Bill Clinton Date of birth: June 12, 1924 Place of birth: Milton, Massachusetts Date of death: Place of death: First Lady: Barbara Pierce Bush Political party: Republican Vice President: Dan Quayle George... The CIA Seal The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is an American intelligence agency, responsible for obtaining and analyzing information about foreign governments, corporations, and individuals, and reporting such information to the various branches of the U.S. Government. ... Public relations is, simply-stated, the art and science of building relationships between an organization and its key audiences. ... The Rendon Group is a secretive public relations firm that has assisted a number of U.S. military activities in nations including Argentina, Colombia, Haiti, Iraq, Kosovo, Panama and Zimbabwe. ... The Rendon Group is a secretive public relations firm that has assisted a number of U.S. military activities in nations including Argentina, Colombia, Haiti, Iraq, Kosovo, Panama and Zimbabwe. ... The CIA Seal The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is an American intelligence agency, responsible for obtaining and analyzing information about foreign governments, corporations, and individuals, and reporting such information to the various branches of the U.S. Government. ...

INC represented the first major attempt by opponents of Saddam to join forces, bringing together Kurds, Sunni and Shi'ite Arabs (both Islamic fundamentalist and secular), as well as democrats, nationalists and ex-military officers.[2]. In June 1992, nearly 200 delegates from dozens of opposition groups met in Vienna, along with Iraq's two main Kurdish militias, the rival Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). In October 1992, major Shi'ite groups, including the SCIRI and al-Dawa, came into the coalition and INC held a pivotal meeting in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq, choosing a three-man Leadership Council and a 26-member executive council. The three leaders included moderate Shi'ite Muslim cleric Muhammad Bahr al-Ulum; ex-Iraqi general Hasan Naqib; and Masud Barzani. Ahmed Chalabi, a secular Iraqi Shi'ite Muslim and mathematician by training, became head of the group. Kurds are one of the Iranian peoples and speak Kurdish, a north-Western Iranian language related to Persian. ... Sunni Islam (Arabic سنّة) is the largest denomination of Islam. ... Shia Islam ( Arabic شيعى follower; English has traditionally used Shiite or Shiite) is the second largest Islamic denomination; some 20-25% of all Muslims are said to follow a Shia tradition. ... Islām is described as a dÄ«n, meaning way of life and/or guidance. Six articles of belief There are six basic beliefs shared by all Muslims: 1. ... In comparative religion, fundamentalism has come to refer to several different understandings of religious thought and practice, including literal interpretation of sacred texts such as the Bible or the Quran and sometimes also anti-modernist movements in various religions. ... Secularism is commonly defined as the idea that religion should not interfere with or be integrated into the public affairs of a society. ... Democracy in its ideal sense is the notion that the people should have the right to choose the government officials of their choice and those chosen should serve the people, not the interests of those who have the monetary means to bend the laws. ... // Nationalism is an ideology which holds that the nation, ethnicity or national identity is a fundamental unit of human social life, and makes certain political claims based upon that belief; above all, the claim that the nation is the only legitimate basis for the state, and that each nation is... Vienna (German: Wien [viːn]; Hungarian: Bécs, Czech: Vídeň, Slovak: Viedeň, Romany Vidnya; Serbian: Beč) is the capital of Austria, and also one of Austrias nine states (Land Wien). ... The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP; Kurdish: Partiya Demokrat a Kurdistanê or PDK) is a Kurdish political party led by Massoud Barzani. ... The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) (est 1975) (Kurdish: Yaketi Nishtimani Kurdistan) // Mission The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan has been working for self-determination, human rights, democracy and peace for the Kurdish people of Iraq, since its establishment in 1 June 1975. ... The Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) is an Iraqi political party; its support comes from the countrys Shia Muslim community and from their fellow religionists in neighbouring Iran. ... A Muslim (Arabic: مسلم) (sometimes also pronounced Moslem) is an adherent of Islam. ... A cleric is: A member of the clergy of a religion, especially one that has trained or ordained priests, preachers, or other religious professionals; or A member of a character class in Dungeons & Dragons and similar fantasy role-playing games. ... General is a high military rank, used by nearly every country in the world. ... Ahmed Chalabi Ahmed Abdel Hadi Chalabi1 (Arabic: احمد الجلبي) (born October 30, 1944) is a deputy prime minister in Iraq, and formerly interim oil minister [1]. Once dubbed the George Washington of Iraq by American Neoconservatives, he has since fallen out of favor and is currently under investigation by several government sources. ...

INC's political platform promised "human rights and rule of law within a constitutional, democratic, and pluralistic Iraq"; preservation of Iraq's territorial integrity, and complete compliance with international law, including United Nations resolutions relating to Iraq. Human rights are rights which some hold to be inalienable and belonging to all humans. ... This law-related article does not cite its references or sources. ... This article concerns the legal meaning of the term resolution. ...

Differences within INC eventually led to its virtual collapse. In May 1994, the two main Kurdish parties began fighting with each other over territory and other issues. As a result of the growing difficulties within INC, the United States began seeking out other opponents who could threaten the Iraqi regime, such as the Iraqi National Accord (INA), headed by Iyad Allawi. The rivalries between the Kurdish parties prompted the KDP to seek armed support from Saddam Hussein for its capture of the town of Arbil from rival PUK. Iraq took advantage of the request by launching a military strike in which 200 opposition members were executed and as many as 2,000 arrested. Six hundred fifty oppositionists (mostly INC) were evacuated and resettled in the United States under parole authority of the US Attorney General. INC played a central role in the truce negotiations between KDP and PUK. 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ... The Iraqi National Accord (INA) is an Iraqi political party headed by Iyad Allawi. ... Iyad Allawi Dr Iyad Allawi (اياد علاوي) (born 1945) is an Iraqi politician, and was the interim Prime Minister of Iraq prior to Iraqs 2005 legislative elections. ... Alberto Gonzales, current Attorney General of the United States The United States Attorney General is the head of the United States Department of Justice concerned with legal affairs and is the chief law enforcement officer of the United States government. ...

INC was subsequently plagued by dissociation of many of its constituent groups from the INC umbrella, a cutoff of funds from its international backers (including the United States), and continued pressure from Iraqi intelligence services especially after a failed 1995 coup attempt. In 1998, however, the US Congress authorized $97 million in U.S. military aid for Iraqi opposition via the Iraq Liberation Act, intended primarily for INC. (Katzman, 1998). Congress in Joint Session. ...

In March 2002, Seymour M. Hersh reported in The New Yorker that "exile groups supported by the INC have been conducting sabotage operations inside Iraq, targeting oil refineries and other installations. The latest attack took place on January 23rd, an INC official told me, when missiles fired by what he termed 'indigenous dissidents' struck the large Baiji refinery complex, north of Baghdad, triggering a fire that blazed for more than twelve hours." However, Hersh added, "A dispute over Chalabi's potential usefulness preoccupies the bureaucracy, as the civilian leadership in The Pentagon continues to insist that only the INC can lead the opposition. At the same time, a former Administration official told me, 'Everybody but the Pentagon and the office of the Vice President wants to ditch the INC.' INC's critics note that Chalabi, despite years of effort and millions of dollars in American aid, is intensely unpopular today among many elements in Iraq. 'If Chalabi is the guy, there could be a civil war after Saddam's overthrow,' one former C.I.A. operative told me. A former high-level Pentagon official added, 'There are some things that a President can't order up, and an internal opposition is one.'" (Hersh, 2002). Seymour Myron Hersh (born April 8, 1937) is an American investigative journalist and author. ... The New Yorkers first cover, which is reprinted most years on the magazines anniversary. ... View of the Tosco (ex Valero, originally Shell) Martinez oil refinery An oil refinery is an industrial process plant where crude oil is processed and refined into useful petroleum products. ... Baiji is a city of about 60,000 inhabitants in northern Iraq some 130 miles north of Baghdad, on the main road to Mosul. ... Average temperature (red) and precipitations (blue) in Baghdad Baghdad (Arabic: ) is the capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Province. ... A pre-9/11 view of The Pentagon, looking east with the Potomac River and Washington Monument in the distance. ... Richard B. Cheney, 46th and current Vice President of the United States The Vice President of the United States is the second-highest executive official of the United States government, the person who, in the words of Adlai Stevenson, is a heartbeat from the presidency. ...

Notwithstanding these concerns, Hersh reported that "INC supporters in and around the Administration, including Paul Wolfowitz and Richard Perle, believe, like Chalabi, that any show of force would immediately trigger a revolt against Saddam within Iraq, and that it would quickly expand." In December 2002, Robert Dreyfuss reported that the administration of George W. Bush actually preferred INC-supplied analyses of Iraq over analyses provided by long-standing analysts within the CIA. "Even as it prepares for war against Iraq, the Pentagon is already engaged on a second front: its war against the Central Intelligence Agency.," he wrote. "The Pentagon is bringing relentless pressure to bear on the agency to produce intelligence reports more supportive of war with Iraq. ... Morale inside the U.S. national-security apparatus is said to be low, with career staffers feeling intimidated and pressured to justify the push for war." Much of the pro-war faction's information came from INC, even though "most Iraq hands with long experience in dealing with that country's tumultuous politics consider the INC's intelligence-gathering abilities to be nearly nil. ... The Pentagon's critics are appalled that intelligence provided by the INC might shape U.S. decisions about going to war against Baghdad. At the CIA and at the State Department, Ahmed Chalabi, the INC's leader, is viewed as the ineffectual head of a self-inflated and corrupt organization skilled at lobbying and public relations, but not much else." Paul Dundes Wolfowitz (born December 22, 1943) is an American academic and political figure. ... Richard Perle Richard Norman Perle (born September 16, 1941 in New York City), is an American political advisor who served the Reagan administration as an assistant Secretary of Defense and served on the Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee from 1987 to 2004. ... 2002 : January _ February _ March _ April _ May _ June _ July _ August _ September _ October _ November _ December _ → A timeline of events in the news for December, 2002. ... George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the 43rd and current President of the United States since 2001. ... Public relations is, simply-stated, the art and science of building relationships between an organization and its key audiences. ...

"The [INC's] intelligence isn't reliable at all," said Vincent Cannistraro, a former senior CIA official and counterterrorism expert. "Much of it is propaganda. Much of it is telling the Defense Department what they want to hear. And much of it is used to support Chalabi's own presidential ambitions. They make no distinction between intelligence and propaganda, using alleged informants and defectors who say what Chalabi wants them to say, [creating] cooked information that goes right into presidential and vice-presidential speeches." (Dreyfuss, December 2002). Vincent Cannistraro is the former head of the CIAs anti-terrorism center. ...

In February 2003, as the Bush administration neared the end of its preparations for war, an internal fight erupted over INC's plan to actually become the government of Iraq after the U.S. invasion. Chalabi wanted to "declare a provisional government when the war starts,"a plan that "alienated some of Mr. Chalabi's most enthusiastic backers in the Pentagon and in Congress, who fear the announcement of a provisional government made up of exiles would split anti-Saddam sentiment inside Iraq." (Borger, et al., 2003) Eventually a governing council, including Chalabi was set up, but when it came time to chose an interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, head of rival Iraqi National Accord, was chosen. 2003 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December A timeline of events in the news for February, 2003. ... Iyad Allawi Dr. Iyad Allawi (اياد علاوي) (born 1945) is the interim Prime Minister of Iraq. ...

In May 2004, the United States military raided the residences of Iraqi National Congress members now living in Iraq. It had been announced on May 18 that the Pentagon had stopped sending funding to INC, which had averaged about $340,000 per month for intelligence gathered by the organization. It is unclear what the military forces were seeking, although a spokesman for Ahmed Chalabi said Chalabi had been held at gunpoint and told to accept concessions then being put in place by the United States in preparation for a transfer of sovereignty on June 30, 2004. Chalabi had been a critic of the transfer, saying that the U.S. retained too much power. 2004 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December Deaths in May • 28 Gerald Anthony • 27 Umberto Agnelli • 22 Richard Biggs • 20 Len Murray • 17 Tony Randall • 17 Ezzedine Salim • 9 Alan King • 9 Akhmad Kadyrov • 8(?) Nick Berg • 7 Waldemar Milewicz Other recent deaths Ongoing... Raid or RAID may refer to: Raid (police action), when police invade a building or area. ... May 18 is the 138th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (139th in leap years). ... Sovereignty is the exclusive right to exercise supreme authority over a geographic region, group of people or oneself. ... June 30 is the 181st day of the year (182nd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 184 days remaining, and the last day of June. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In the lead up to the January 2005 Iraqi election INC joined the United Iraqi Alliance coalition of mainly Shi'ite groups as Chalabi reinvented himself as a sharp critic of the occupation, aligning himself with Muqtada al-Sadr. Chalabi was appointed as Deputy Prime Minister in the transitional government, and INC member Ali Allawi (the cousin of Iyad Allawi) became Minister of Finance. Iraqi police officers hold up their index fingers marked with purple indelible ink, a security measure to prevent double voting. ... The United Iraqi Alliance is the electoral coalition that achieved the most votes (48. ... Muqtada al-Sadr Muqtada al-Sadr (Arabic: مقتدى الصدر, also transliterated as Moqtada Alsadr) (born c. ... Iyad Allawi Dr Iyad Allawi (اياد علاوي) (born 1945) is an Iraqi politician, and was the interim Prime Minister of Iraq prior to Iraqs 2005 legislative elections. ...

In preparation for the December 2005 Iraqi election, INC broke with the United Iraqi Alliance and formed its own multi-ethnic coalition, the National Congress Coalition. Following the ratification of the constitution of Iraq on October 15, 2005, a general election was called for 15 December to elect a permanent 275-member Iraqi National Assembly. ...

External links

• Iraqi National Congress official INC website
• Al-Mutamar official INC daily newspaper
• Iraqi National Congress on SourceWatch
• ClandestineRadio.com

SourceWatchs logo features a magnifying glass through which its name, somewhat distorted, can be seen. ...

References

• Mark Atkinson (1998). Propagandist for Hire. ABC News.
• Robert Dreyfuss (November 18, 2002). Tinker, Banker, NeoCon, Spy. The American Prospect, Volume 13, Issue 21.
• Kenneth Katzman (March 26, 1998). Iraq's Opposition Movements. Congressional Research Service report.
• Seymour M. Hersh (March 4, 2002). The Debate Within. The New Yorker, March 11, 2002.
• Robert Dreyfuss (December 16, 2002). The Pentagon Muzzles the CIA. The American Prospect, Volume 13, Issue 22.
• Julian Borger, Michael Howard, Luke Harding, Dan De Luce (February 21, 2003). US falls out with Iraqi opposition. The Guardian.
• Jane Mayer (May 29, 2004). The Manipulator. The New Yorker, June 7, 2004.

Timelines

Ahmed Chalabi and the Iraqi National Congress timeline posted at the Center for Cooperative Research's website

Iraqi National Congress timeline at the Stakeholder website (operated by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee)

Links gone 404

• http://www.clandestineradio.com/dossier/iraq/inc.htm
• http://www.time.com/time/magazine/archive/1996/dom/960923/iraq.html