Muhammad Idrees Ahmad

Ron Suskind has now published the transcript of his interview with the source, Rob Richer. It confirms his original story that the White House tasked George Tenet with getting the CIA to produce a fake document suggesting a link between Saddam Hussein and al-Qa’ida. However, it also doesn’t negate my view that the neoconservatives were behind the initiative as the orders from the White House came not from Bush but Cheney and the neoconservative coterie around him, particularly Scooter Libby. Con Coughlin, the hack who published the fake story on the front page of Conrad Black’s Sunday Telegraph has now revealed the source as Iyad Allawi. And Joe Conason at Salon shows that Allawi’s engagements prior to the publication of the story seem to confirm that he was the conduit for the story (thanks and happy birthday Tom).

On Dec. 11, 2003 — three days before the Telegraph launched its “exclusive” on the Habbush memo — the Washington Post published an article by Dana Priest and Robin Wright headlined “Iraq Spy Service Planned by U.S. to Stem Attacks.” Buried inside on Page A41, their story outlined the CIA’s efforts to create a new Iraqi intelligence agency:

“The new service will be trained, financed and equipped largely by the CIA with help from Jordan. Initially the agency will be headed by Iraqi Interior Minister Nouri Badran, a secular Shiite and activist in the Jordan-based Iraqi National Accord, a former exile group that includes former Baath Party military and intelligence officials.

“Badran and Ayad Allawi, leader of the INA, are spending much of this week at CIA headquarters in Langley to work out the details of the new program. Both men have worked closely with the CIA over the past decade in unsuccessful efforts to incite coups against Saddam Hussein.”

So Allawi was at the CIA during the week before Coughlin got that wonderful scoop. That may not be proof of anything, either, but a picture is beginning to form.

That picture becomes sharper in the months that followed Allawi’s release of the Habbush forgery, when he suddenly returned to favor in Baghdad and eclipsed Chalabi, at least for a while. Five months later, in May 2004, the Iraqi Governing Council elected Allawi as his country’s interim prime minister, reportedly under pressure from the American authorities. Combining subservience to the occupiers with iron-fisted tactics, he quickly squandered any popularity he might have enjoyed, and his INA party placed a humiliating third in the 2005 national elections.

And here is the transcript of Ron Suskind’s interview with Rob Richer.

A note to readers

I’ve decided to post a partial transcript of one of a number of taped conversations in which Rob Richer and I discussed, on the record, the Habbush letter. We discussed it many times through the spring of 2008.

Rob Richer received a copy of The Way of the World on Monday night, August 4, the day before publication. On Tuesday, he said he had read key portions of the book and was comfortable with what they contained. Later that day, though, he issued the following the statement:

“I never received direction from George Tenet or anyone else in my chain of command to fabricate a document from Habbash as outlined in Mr Suskind’s book.”

The conversation below took place in June 2008. As in all of our conversations, it shows Rob pressing to get at truth and embrace probity.

This posting is contrary to my practice across 25 years as a journalist. But the issues, in this matter, are simply too important to stand as discredited in any way.

–Ron Suskind

Interview Transcript

. . . Ron Suskind: I know we’ve talked through these things eight ways to Sunday, and hour after hour, but here’s what I want you to ask yourself. Prior to me jogging your memory, okay–forget Habbush part one, okay.

Rob Richer: Okay.

Ron: You know, the prewar stuff, cause there’s zillions of people in on that part. And there’s people in on the second part, too. But here’s my question to you: before I, as I said, before I jog your memory on this stuff, what do you–and I think I have a good idea, cause I’ve asked you this seven different ways, but I just want to make absolutely sure–what do you remember? If I just grabbed you on the street and said what do you remember of the second part, okay–with the letter and all the rest–what would be the high marks in terms of what you–memory’s the best editor I think’s a line from Tennyson–

Rob: Exactly.

Ron: What were the parts that you remember most vividly?

Rob: You’re talking about Habbush himself, correct?

Ron: No, I’m talking about the second part, with the letter being passed from–through George [Tenet] and down the ranks. Cause at one point–and I know we have recollections at the top and that’s fine–you have recollections, not from me but from your own memory on that–

Rob: Let me tell you what I know, just so before you color any of it. Is that when you first asked me about it I remember just really telling you that it was a non-event, and if you were to ask me today I would tell you it was a non-event. It came down from the seventh floor. It was part of–as I remember it, it wasn’t so much to influence America–that’s illegal–but it was kinda like a covert, a way to influence Iraqis.

. . .

Rob: To characterize it right, I would say, right: it came to us, George had a raised eyebrow, and basically we passed it on–it was to–and passed this on into the organization. You know, it was: ‘Okay, we gotta do this, but make it go away.’ To be honest with you, I don’t want to make it sound–I for sure don’t want to portray this as George jumping: ‘Okay, this has gotta happen.’ As I remember it–and, again, it’s still vague, so I’ll be very straight with you on this–is it wasn’t that important. It was: ‘This is unbelievable. This is just like all the other garbage we get about . . . I mean Mohammad Atta and links to al Qaeda. ‘Rob,’ you know, ‘do something with this.’ I think it was more like that than: ‘Get this done.’

Ron: Do something with this, right. Get this, this is like–

Rob: It died a natural death as you know.

Ron: ‘This thing stinks, take it.’

Rob: Yeah, kinda like that, yeah. But, you know, we got so much garbage that first couple—that year.

Ron: Were there other things like this where we were creating product?

Rob: You know, I don’t remember that.

. . .

Ron: The intent–the basic raison d’etre of this product is to get, is to create, here’s a letter with what’s in it. Okay, here’s what we want on the letter, we want it to be released as essentially a representation of something Habbush says. That’s all it says, that’s the one paragraph. And then you pass it to whomever to do it. To get it done.

Rob: It probably passed through five or six people. George probably showed it to me, but then passed it probably to Jim Pavitt, the DDO, who then passed it down to his chief of staff who passed it to me. Cause that’s how–you know, so I saw the original. I got a copy of it. But it was, there probably was–

Ron: Right. You saw the original with the White House stationery, but you didn’t–down the ranks, then it creates other paper.

Rob: Yeah, no, exactly. But I couldn’t tell you–again: I remember it happening, I remember a terrible brief kinda joking dialogue about it, but that was it.

. . .

Ron: Now this is from the Vice President’s Office is how you remembered it–not from the president?

Rob: No, no, no. What I remember is George saying, ‘we got this from’–basically, from what George said was ‘downtown.’

Ron: Which is the White House?

Rob: Yes. But he did not–in my memory–never said president, vice president, or NSC. Okay? But now–he may have hinted–just by the way he said it, it would have–cause almost all that stuff came from one place only: Scooter Libby and the shop around the vice president.

Ron: Yeah, right.

Rob: But he didn’t say that specifically. I would naturally–I would probably stand on my, basically, my reputation and say it came from the vice president.

Ron: Right, I’m with you, I’m with you. But there wasn’t anything in the writing that you remember saying the vice president.

Rob: Nope.

Ron: It just had the White House stationery.

Rob: Exactly right.

Ron: That’s fine, White House stationery’s fine. Everything’s from there. You know, that’s the center point. But not OVP’s Office. It’s just the White House. It comes from the White House. That’s plain and simple.

Rob: And you know, if you’ve ever seen the vice president’s stationery, it’s on the White House letterhead. It may have said OVP. I don’t remember that, so I don’t want to mislead you. . . .