Has Bush Been Working for Iran?

The LA Times offers this explanation for the US’s raid of Chalabi’s headquarters the other day:

WASHINGTON — Ahmad Chalabi, the onetime White House favorite who has been implicated in an alleged Iranian spy operation, sent Iraqi defectors to at least eight Western spy services before the war in an apparent effort to dupe them about Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s illicit weapons programs, current and former U.S. intelligence officials said.

U.S. investigators are seeking to determine whether the effort — which one U.S. official likened to an attempt to “game the system” — was secretly supported by Iran’s intelligence service to help persuade the Bush administration to oust the regime in Baghdad, Tehran’s longtime enemy.

If true (Iran is denying the allegations), this would be a tad embarrassing for the Bush administration. No matter how hard they try, I think they’ll find it hard to put a good spin on being outsmarted and outmanipulated by the Iranians.

Kash