10 Questions For Ahmad Chalabi

in next week's issue of Time Magazine:

He was criticized for presenting dubious sources on Saddam Hussein's weapons and accused of giving U.S. secrets to Iran. But Ahmad Chalabi, 61, is back in favor. Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister spent last week in the U.S. visiting with the likes of Condoleezza Rice and Stephen Hadley. He spoke by phone with TIME's Brian Bennett from a State Department-escorted limo. You received the real Washington welcome. How did it feel to be greeted with protests and tough questions? The serious part of the visit was excellent. We had very useful discussions with the Secretary of State and National Security Adviser, and we addressed some very important issues about the relationship between Iraq and the United States. As far as protesters, I was told there were a handful. Did you make any specific requests? We put forward the idea that Iraq should buy American weapons. It will go a long way toward raising the morale of Iraqi troops and giving them something serious to work with. We discussed Syria and how we stop infiltration from Syria by getting the Syrian government to act responsibly. How much credit can you take for the U.S. decision to go to war in Iraq? The U.S. has been at loggerheads with Saddam (Hussein) since the first Gulf War, and there was a sense of unfinished business. There were many calls to remove Saddam's regime from power by American organizations. We were there, but we could not have much influence. We were an exile organization. Now that some of the Weapons-of-mass-destruction (WMD) sources you introduced to the Americans have been discredited, do you regret not checking out their stories more? The Robb-Silberman report said we had minimum impact on WMD intelligence as it related to the U.S. decision to go to war. It is an urban myth that we had ill-principled sources. It is our job to check to see that these people are who they say they are. It is the job of the intelligence agencies to do the serious vetting and checking. How do you feel about Judith Miller, the newly retired New York Times reporter who has been criticized for relying on your organization as a source for prewar reporting on Iraq's WMDs? I think Judith Miller is a good reporter. Over there she did very good reporting for the Times, and she tried to check the facts and examine the evidence. I think she has been made into a scapegoat for the media. If you count the number of newspapers and media outlets that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, you'll find many all around. What do you make of the reported allegations that you gave U.S. secrets to Iran? Those allegations are false. I deny them. I did no such thing. Have these allegations soured your relationship with the U.S. government? No one mentioned anything like that in our meetings. Why should Iraqis trust you to be Prime Minister when you've been convicted of fraud in a Jordanian military court? Because they know that this is a false charge. And they also know the record of Jordan being the hub of corruption on the basis of Saddam's illicit dealings. Do you think the U.S. should send more troops to Iraq, as Senator John McCain proposes? I think more troops in Iraq would make more casualties and would contribute very little to improving the security situation. I think the way to go forward is to arm the Iraqi army in a way that it can deal with the insurgency and the violence in a more professional way. The most important thing to do is revamp the intelligence collection. The trial of Saddam Hussein began several weeks ago. If Saddam is sentenced to die, will you watch the execution? I am against the death penalty.