The follies of US President Bush's scandalous choices have come home to roost, writes Gamal Nkrumah "Corruption at home, aggression abroad to cover it up," mused the wartime British prime minister Sir Winston Churchill. "Sentiments by the bucketful, patriotism by the imperial pint; the open hand at the public exchequer ...". Churchill's insightful observation about the warped vagaries of the British Conservative Party could well apply to the Republican Party of United States President George W Bush. The personal failings of the favourite Bush nominee, Paul , are a fitting metaphor for the bankruptcy of the entire American political system what another Tory statesman, Benjamin Disraeli, called "that fatal drollery called a representative government". How apt are Disraeli's wise words. Corruption, favouritism and nepotism abound in Western democracies and the latest scandal involving , the son of immigrant Polish Jews and his Westernised British-educated secular Arab feminist lover Shaha Reza has driven the point home. , apparently with Bush's blessing, had Reza dispatched to Iraq in the early day of the invasion of that most unfortunate country to ascertain the position of women in Iraq and make sure that Iraqi women's rights are protected and that they have a say in the decision-making process of the new post-Saddam Iraq. Reza's father was a Libyan businessman who became a favourite hanger-on of the late Saudi King Abdul- Aziz bin Saud, the founder of the kingdom, and her mother a Syrian national. Reza's pan-Arab credentials are impeccable. She is at ease in her own Arab world, understands the culture and the mentality of her people, and she is well acquainted with the Western world. Reza was an indispensable ally as far as was concerned. Her impeccable English and flawless French is supplemented by Arabic, Farsi and Urdu. She is precisely the type of Arab and Muslim woman that finds favour in Western eyes. As far as Arabs and Muslims are concerned Reza is a sell-out. She was hounded by bad publicity in the Arab world. She was derided as "'s mistress" by one pan-Arab daily. Bush, apparently oblivious of the scandalous nature of the affair, delivered paeans of praise for . And, Reza, too, caught Bush's eye. She had a niche in his plans to invade Iraq. Bush, like his Vice-President Dick Cheney, and many other top officials of the Bush administration has had extensive dealings with moneyed Arab leaders. There are lucrative oil interests that bind Bush and the well-heeled Arab politico-economic elites. Oil is the common denominator, and oil was the real reason that the Bush administration opted for the invasion and destruction of Iraq. At first, put on a brave face. He was desperately searching for a face-saving exit. He seemed impervious to pressures to oust him as World Bank head. He had the backing of the powers that be. He himself was an indispensable inner circle member of the American political establishment elite. He was among the most hawkish of the Bush administration officials. Indeed, came with more political baggage than any other World Bank president. He was the answer to the neo-conservatives' dreams. And what did the Bush team get in return? In the aftermath of the Bush administration's debacle in Iraq, the entire world is in a state of disarray. A chronology of violence marks the Bush administration, and the more the bloodied corpses pile up in Iraq, both American and Iraqi, the more discredited Washington becomes in everything it does. , a chief neo-con hawk, was convinced that there was a link between the late Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein and Al-Qaeda, headed by Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden. was also certain that Saddam's Iraq stored weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). was convinced that Saddam buried enriched uranium somewhere deep in a dry riverbed in Mesopotamia. The Centcom command advised otherwise and warned against a military strike. But, an adamant ordered the green light that led to one of America's most disastrous and hare-brained militaristic escapades in living memory. America's misadventures in Iraq and Afghanistan resulted in catastrophic consequences for the hapless people of Iraq. Meanwhile, was peddling his sneaky six-figure favouritism plan for his sweetheart, the civil society expert on whose dexterous advice the future of the women of Iraq rested. And , too, emerged as the cause celebre for every nutty neo-con wanting to throw a punch at Islam. At this limping stage of the Bush presidency, the scandal comes as a bolt out of the blue. When Bush chose as World Bank chief, little did he expect that it will so rebound on him. There were several ill omens that indicated that 's presidency was not going to be a cakewalk. The glee in which his staff celebrated his departure announcement was indicative. was so unpopular at the WB and so out of it, he was conned into wearing a blue arm band not long before his resignation, told it was for an anti-malaria campaign, whereas in fact it was worn by all WB employees who wanted to dump him. Sort of like "pin the tail on the donkey". was neither charismatic not had he any especially striking political talents. His most successful job was a stint at John Hopkins University where he played dean of Advanced International Studies for almost a decade. At the WB was told in no uncertain terms that his bullying was an intolerable echo of the West's imperialistic past. Nor was he particularly equipped to head the World Bank or masterminding the war against Iraq. His biggest weakness though was Shaha Reza. The personal is political. And his standards -- or rather lack of them -- will make it harder, rather than easier, to prop up America's moral authority. The affair opened up a can of worms. America's religious conservatives preach chastity and sexual abstinence to Africa's HIV/AIDS victims. The transmission of the culture of decadent debauchery is worse than the transfer of sexually transmitted diseases to the region. Worse, it is personalities as amoral and depraved as Paul who are behind the manoeuvring to force a new trade agreement on the poor countries at the stalemated WTO Doha negotiations.
