Ah, Chalabi!

However you cut it, the Chalabi scandal is good news for opponents of the W regime.

If Chalabi really was a spy for Iran, then why did the administration place so much trust in him? If the charges are (as Chalabi claims) a smear-job, then Republicans stand damned once more as curs who spread lies about anyone who gets in their way. The Bushies are either stupid or vicious. Take your pick.

Josh Marshall raises a damn good point today. America still runs Iraq. The occupation authority can make an arrest. If the evidence really is so damn strong that Ahmed Chalabi was some sort of super-spook for Tehran, then why hasn't he been cuffed and frog-marched to the Big House? Why wait until the official transfer of power conveniently places the man beyond our control?

As for the bit about Chalabi revealing details of a broken Iranian code: Perhaps our side knew that the Iranians already had this information from another source. If so, Chalabi could have been directed to "reveal" data that the Iranians already possessed, in order to establish himself in their good graces. Such things have happened before in the spy trade.

Just a theory, of course. But it's a theory that may be of interest to those who suspect Chalabi was used as a U.S.-Iran back channel.