It's difficult to tell what's going on with Chalabi and the raid on his house last night, but Michael Rubin of the American Enterprise Institute has some very interesting things to say about why Jerry Bremer messed up when he ordered the raid.
All I ever knew about Chalabi is that he is a world-class thief (they say if the Jordanians ever get their mitts on him, he's done) and that he was supposed to have been widely regarded by Iraqis in the run-up to the war as America's would-be puppet. Which is why I figured that there would be little outrage over this dressing down since most Iraqis, presumably, would be pleased to see the puppet get his desserts. But that may not be. He is, after all, a member of the Iraqi Governing Council, and Rubin says that the raid on his home and office will be seen as a real demonstration of America's lack of loyalty with its friends. But that should have been clear enough last week when he lost his huge monthly allowance from Uncle Sugar.
Who knows what the fuck is going on? Throwing Chalabi over may have been a bad move, but it may be nothing compared to our courting this Lakhdar Brahami character from the UN. He may be one of our worst moves yet.