Watch what happens with Chalabi. In many ways he manipulated the American Neo-Cons into the invasion last year. Now it hasn’t gone the way he wants and the Americans are turning on him (finally). But it doesn’t seem he will go quietly. He is definately one to watch.

The Truth About Ahmed Chalabi
(Andrew Cockburn, CounterPunch)

In dawn raids today, American troops surrounded Ahmed Chalabi’s headquarters and home in Baghdad, put a gun to his head, arrested two of his aides, and seized documents. Only five months ago, Chalabi was a guest of honor sitting right behind Laura Bush at the State of the Union. What brought about this astonishing fall from grace of the man who helped provide the faked intelligence that justified last year’s war?

The answer lies in Chalabi’s reaction to his gradual loss of US support in recent months and the realisation that he will be excluded from the post June 30 Iraqi “government” being crafted by UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi.

Lashing out against his exclusion from power, he has in effect been laying the groundwork for a coup, assembling a Shia political coalition with the express aim of destabilising the “Brahimi” government even before it takes office. “

(via MetaFilter)