Frank Gaffney paints a very disturbing image of American failures in the Iraqi occupation. He concludes that all this is the explanation for the recent behavior towards Chalabi:
Ahmed Chalabi has been a prominent critic of such patently self-defeating measures. With access to vast quantities of Saddam-era documents shedding light on the corruption at the U.N. and in various Western capitals associated with the notorious Oil-for-Food program, he has been in a position not only to complain about the folly of turning Iraq over to the tender mercies of the so-called "international community," but possibly to obstruct that step. Rather than risk such a development, the Bush administration has apparently decided to go beyond cutting off Chalabi from past U.S. financial and political support and to attempt to destroy him.
If he's right, this is disturbing indeed. However his case would be more compelling if he addressed the stated reason for targeting Chalabi: that he is accused of spying for Iran.
We also have to deal with the fact that Chalabi himself seems pretty happy about the whole affair:
Iraqi Governing Council member Ahmed Chalabi on Friday said he was proud to have become the target of a US-backed police raid because it showed his commitment to Iraq's independence."What the Americans have done earned me a medal from the Iraqi people," he said in an interview with Dubai-based television Al-Arabiya.
"It invalidated everything that had been said about me being with the Americans, it showed that I was with the Iraqi people all along."
He said US hostility towards him was sparked by his "calls for Iraq's independence and sovereignty ... and my defense of Iraq's interests."
Of course, Chalabi's instant announcement that the raid will make him a hero with the Iraqi people is likely to trigger a bunch of claims that the whole thing is just a conspiracy to make Chalabi more popular with the Iraqi people. On the other hand, if you believe Al Jazeera, Chalabi's claims are bunk.
So what is really going on? I have no idea. If Gaffney is right, then we have seriously problems. (Serious meaning catastrophic.) At present though, I'm not convinced.
Update: Bill Quick has a good point on this.
Update the second: Michael Rubin (link via Powerline) portrays a bleaker picture still. According to Rubin this is the culmination of Paul Bremer's ego raging out of control. If so, we have got to get this guy out of there and pronto.
Update the third: Apparently I'm not the only one expecting the conspiracy theory approach.
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