Counter-offensive: Your Favorite Crooks in Power. Former Iraqi puppet defense minister, Hazim Sha`lan (a former henchman for Saddam who, according to documents found after the collapse of the regime, worked for Saddam's mukhabarat), appeared on AlJazeera AND Al-Arabiyya to defend himself from accusations of corruption. We only are talking about some $1 billion here, which is more than what Ahmad Chalabi had embezzled back in Jordan. In fact, Chalabi feigned outrage at this corruption. Sha`lan appeared as honest and as sincere as when Rustum Ghazalah (former head of Syrian intelligence in Lebanon) told UN inspector, Peter Fitzgerald, that he never interfered in Lebanese affairs. Sha`lan has settled in Jordan, and (before suddenly emerging as a favorite for US occupation) he led the most consistent anti-Iranian campaign often referring to Iranian influence as "Safavid", implying some imperial ambition on the part of Iran, which greatly offended the US, which abhors all empires, including its own. Sha`lan learned the tricks of the trade in Saddam's mukhabarat apparatus. But this is what I want to know: what role did Amin Gemayyel (and his son-in-law, Muzananar) and Rafiq Hariri played in arranging for the smuggling of the $500 million during the `Allawi government? As you may remember, the plane with cash was found in Beirut, and the Lebanese government of Rafiq Hariri, covered up the matter instantly, and muzzled the press that wanted to investigate. The Iraqi puppet intelligence and defense apparatus (reportedly) had deals with Gemayyel's son-in-law, and possibly with Hariri subsidiaries. It was noteworthy that Sha`lan kept invoking `Allawi's name in his interviews. That to me indicated that if he were to go down, he will insist on bringing down `Allawi with him, but the US would never stand for that, and that would protect Sha`lan. So: expect a cover up, and lifetime of expensive vacations for Sha`lan.
P.S. A reader corrected me. The name of Gemayyel's son-in-law is Mukattaf.