Thoughts from London

Bush, Blair and the decline of power
The American embassy’s spokesman in Colombo treads far more carefully than even angels or evangelical ones from his part of the world.
Well with a God-fearing big boss like George W Bush, who is in speaking terms with God, this chap Philip Frayne naturally does not want to put a wrong foot anywhere, particularly in his mouth.

Naturally he needs to be careful. There is the president of the United States who goes about saying that he got instructions from God to do the things he has done since entering the White House. How he first got there, of course, is a different matter. Some say it is even a family secret. But that’s another story.

Now you don’t muck around with anybody who is in speaking terms with the Almighty and who receives messages telling him what to do. Being the president of the only super-power around is a hell of a lot of power to start with.

He could blow poor Osama to little bits — if he could find him, that is. Believe me he has tried. He has blasted or locked up all the fellows with long beards and a lean and hungry look he could find, but somehow Osama seems to elude the long arm of the Bush-whackers. That is why this Frayne chap has to be careful of what he says about Osama and al Qaeda.

When there is a president who claims to be in communion with the Almighty himself (or herself if you ask some feminists) and seriously believes he does the deity’s bidding it would be foolish for a lowly spokesman not to give Osama a good bashing and label him the Mother of all Terrorists and turn down his US visa application.

Spokesman Philip Frayne faithfully does his duty. Poor chap, what else could he do. Commenting on my story last Sunday about a possible link between the LTTE and Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda he tells an English language daily.

“Obviously we would be concerned about any links between the LTTE and al Qaeda or any other terrorist group.” Having got that off his chest he adds rather coyly that the report refers only to a “possible link”.

Let’s begin at the beginning, like Byron’s Don Juan. Last Sunday I quoted from the latest issue of the “Military Balance” published by the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS) that cited the LTTE as having a possible link with al Qaeda.

Following up this story, another newspaper asked the American embassy for its comments as though it had all the answers. If it did the US won’t be up to its neck in trouble in Iraq.

So up and speaks dear Philip. If Frayne was trying to say that since the IISS had not provided any evidential support it is mere speculation then the poor chap is in a bigger soup than the one the Katrina victims in New Orleans should have been given but was not.

Frayne represents a country that invaded Iraq with hardly a scrap of evidence to support President Bush’s claim that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and that he was planning to buy uranium from an African country to build nuclear weapons.

Bush has been badly exposed on both counts and it is even more abundantly clear now than it was then, that the president, helped by Britain’s Tony Blair invaded Iraq under false pretences.

If his country’s leadership had shown the circumspection and caution that Frayne is showing today the Bush administration would not be in the terrible mess it has got itself into these past few days.

But it is not only the Bush White House that has been profoundly damaged by the events of recent weeks. It is also the administration of his closest ally in the Iraq misadventure.

Tony Blair is increasingly appearing as a prime minister that is losing control of his cabinet and facing a revolt of his own backbenchers.
It is useful to remember that Bush is serving a second term and Blair is serving a record third term for a Labour prime minister.

It is not just the fiasco of Iraq that has led to this miasma that is increasingly undermining the power of president and prime minister and pushing back their final agendas, which they hope, will be part of their legacies.

True, Bush’s biggest concern just now is that the fall out from Iraq is bringing scandals right up to the front door of the White House. Already the chief-of-staff of Vice-President Dick Cheney has been indicted on three counts including perjury, obstruction of justice and lying to investigators.

While Lewis “Scooter” Libby has resigned, Bush’s own chief political adviser Karl Rove is not off the hook yet. He will be under scrutiny for the next six months in an investigation that began in 2003 over the disclosure of the name of a covert CIA agent.

Remember after the Clinton sex scandal, Bush came to the presidency promising to “restore honour and dignity to the Oval Office.” Blair came to power promising clean government and a hundred other things.

Neither Bush nor Blair has kept his promises. That comes as no surprise as politicians have hides thicker than that of a rhinoceros and breaking promises comes with the vocation.

Bush and Blair are passing through turbulent times because their judgements of people were impaired by their proximity and personal attachment to individuals in their respective administrations.

They were at best dubious cronies who did not care about stretching the law and the rules for personal benefit. Instead of clean governance, transparency and rectitude, the administrations of the two Bs had highly placed persons who dared to breach codes of conduct that governed those in public life.

Only a few days ago, David Blunkett, a close ally of Tony Blair was forced out of the cabinet for the second time in 10 months or so for violating the code demanded of even one-time ministers.

Just as Bush defended Lewis Libby, Tony Blair defended in parliament Blunkett’s conduct only to find the whole thing blowing up in his face.
This is not the first time that Tony Blair has brought back into cabinet a minister who has been forced into resigning and then being discredited once more forcing him to throw in the towel.

Personal relationships and loyalty to the leader have clouded the judgements of both Bush and Blair and should serve as salutary lessons for our own politicians

As the presidential elections draw near there are vital lessons here for potential leaders from both sides of the political divide. Cronyism might be a tempting prospect. But if those personal friends become an embarrassment, are deemed to be corrupt and guilty of moral turpitude, then there is no place for them in the echelons of power and in public life.
They must not only be punished for their actions.

They cannot be safeguarded and temporarily shunted away from the public gaze. The fall from grace of both Bush and Blair, two leaders who won their elections not too long ago, is because they let cronyism and friendship overshadow the more important quality of a person in public life, be they politicians or senior officials — clean hands.

Manipulators, corrupt and dodgy businessmen, crooked politicians and thugs in the garb of servants of the people are a menace not only to governments in power but also to society. Clean politics demands that they be eliminated. Leaders who surround themselves with the crooked, the corrupt and the self- serving only display their own moral vacuity and weakness.

Back to Columns