tom_thinks

So what's the deal now? Ahmed Chalabi's residence and headquarters were raided in Baghdad today. It's about time. This guy is just as responsible as Bush and Cheney for the invasion of Iraq. Facing 22 years of prison time in Jordan from his previous embezzling, he came to the United States determined to convince the government to attack Iraq and install him and his buddies in the Iraqi National Congress as rulers of Iraq. Chalabi seems to be upset about the recent proclamation by the U.N. envoy that he'd be excluded from the new government of Iraq.

"Why did the Bush administration turn against its former favorite Iraqi? Almost certainly because it realized that Chalabi, maddened by the realization that he was being excluded from the post-June 30 hand-over arrangements, was putting together a sectarian Shiite faction to destabilize and destroy the new Iraqi government. "This all started since [U.N. envoy Lakhdar] Brahimi announced that Chalabi would be kept out of the new arrangement," says an Iraqi political observer who is not only long familiar with Chalabi himself but also in close touch with key actors, including U.S. officials at the CPA and Iraqi politicians. " -'Ahmed Chalabi's failed coup' by Andrew Cockburn

Chalabi has been accused of giving detailed information about US operations in Iraq to the Iranian government. Which should really come as no suprise considering his ties to Iran.

Chalabi who considers himself 'a hero in error' is largely responsible for feeding US intelligence wildly innaccurate information on Iraq's WMD program. He has been the darling of NeoCons like Richard Perle. After the initial invasion, Chalabi arrived in Iraq with his own private militia, largely financed by money from the US government. Only recently was his 340,000 monthly allowance ended.

Some reports I've been hearing indicate that it was an Iraqi court that ordered the raid on Chalabi's headquarters and not the US government. That seems to be beside the point considering that 100 US troops were involved in the raid. However, Rumsfeld claimed to have no advance knowledge of the raid.

Will this be the end of Chalabi? Who knows, but I certainly hope so.

For more in depth reading on Chalabi's history: 'How Ahmed Chalabi Conned the NeoCons'