One of Ours

...Thursday, US troops raided his house and the offices of his Iraqi National Congress political party. Earlier this week, his party's monthly US stipend of $340,000 was abruptly cut off.
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They overturned desks, seized computers and documents, and loaded boxes into waiting cars. Coalition officials told Associated Press that warrants had been issued for "up to 15 people" on allegations of "fraud, kidnapping, and associated matters."...neighbors said some members of Chalabi's entourage were taken away...A portrait of Chalabi hanging on the wall had a bullet hole in the forehead. Chalabi said police burst into his bedroom carrying pistols.

"I am America's best friend in Iraq," Chalabi told a news conference. "If the (coalition) finds it necessary to direct an armed attack against my home, you can see the state of relations between the (coalition) and the Iraqi people."

Chalabi repudiated the American occupation authority and declared himself a leader of the new Iraq. "My relationship with the Coalition Provisional Authority doesn't exist,"...
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In recent days, American officials have hinted that Chalabi was impeding US investigations into funds allegedly skimmed from the United Nations oil-for-food program during the time of Saddam Hussein. In a strange twist, Chalabi claimed Thursday that one of the reasons for this raid was his leading role in opening the investigation.
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In Iraq, Chalabi is so widely despised that people blame him for everything from kidnapping and assassinations to electrical outages...
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As plans for the transitional government progressed, Chalabi grew increasingly critical of US and UN authorities. In recent weeks, he began to press for an increased role for the political parties represented on the governing council, and began launching bitter attacks at UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi.
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Chalabi's objections were no surprise. As a political appointee viewed as illegitimate by most Iraqis, he stood to lose his influence once Brahimi's plan came into being.

Desperate to keep its place the US appointed government, Chalabi's party has accused the UN special envoy of everything from "impudence" to leading a "white coup" in conspiracy with the Jordanian government.
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In fact, Chalabi is so distrusted that immediately after the raid, a rumor circulated in Baghdad: The American authorities in a last ditch attempt to salvage their man's reputation had staged the raid to increase his stature among the people as an anti-American figure.

"I think that he will try to improve his popularity and tell the Iraqis 'Look, you have a nationalist leader now, and he's against the Americans. I don't think people are so naive as to accept it,"...

"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 is gathering groups to bring this new government down even before July 1. He is in a very destructive phase, mobilizing forces to make sure the U.N. initiative -- due to be announced in 10 days -- fails." Chalabi has reportedly been inflaming his recruits with reports that veteran Algerian diplomat Brahimi is part of a Sunni conspiracy bent on undermining the rights of Iraqi Shiites to hold power in Iraq.
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...Two other members of the Governing Council are also considered close adherents of Chalabi, who recently inaugurated the Supreme Shia Council, modeled on a similar entity that flourished in Lebanon during that country's bloody civil war. Among other entities included in the council are Iraqi members of Hezbollah.

..."He knows that, sooner or later, Muqtada al-Sadr is going to be killed, [and] that will leave tens, hundreds, of thousands of his followers adrift, looking for a new leader. If Ahmed plays the role of victim after [today's raid], he can take on that role."
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..."I think the U.S. moved against him because they realized he is a gambler, ready to bring it all down."