Ruth King

There is a tale that George Bernard Shaw asked a lady….a doyenne of society, if he could bed her for a million pounds. When she replied “but of course” he offered her ten pounds. “Who do you think I am?” asked the enraged grande dame. Shaw retorted: “We’ve established that and now we are just negotiating your fee.”

This story is apposite as our former top officials troll for money among the Arab states. In the September 2004 Outpost I wrote about former diplomats and legislators who lobby for Saudi Arabia. This seedy group has recently been joined by a former president, a former minority leader in the Senate, and a former Secretary of State….two of them married to Senators.

In 1979, Marion Javits, wife of then Senator Jacob Javits, caused a brouhaha when she did PR work for Iran Air and the Shah. Mrs. Javits issued a public apology and severed her ties to the Shah. Remember the Shah? He was the “tyrant” that freedom and democracy groupies overthrew in order to clear the way for the mullahs….but that’s another story.

When Jimmy Carter’s smarter brother Billy Carter registered as a foreign agent of the Libyan government and took $250,000 to lobby his brother for the release of embargoed C-130 airplanes to Libya, public outrage led to investigations and Senate hearings on influence peddling which became known as "Billygate.” Billy famously defended his actions by stating “there is a hell of a lot more Arabians than there is Jews.” Well, he has a point and even former presidents are not immune to the lure of lucre….even when it entails denigrating our own country,

A prime example is former President Clinton. He is not a lobbyist, but he gets hefty fees for speaking and large contributions to his Presidential Library in Arkansas. Although his wife is a Senator and potential candidate for the presidency, he does not mind throwing in some nasty criticism of the United States. For example, in Dubai on November 16th, 2005 he told Arab students that the United States made a "big mistake" when it invaded Iraq, citing “poor planning” lack of enough troops and a litany of other errors.

Clinton’s Middle East enthusiasms lead him to some odd assessments. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in early 2005, he said: “Iran today is, in a sense the only country where progressive ideas enjoy a vast constituency. It is there that the ideas that I subscribe to are defended by a majority.” On a subsequent interview with Charlie Rose, he described Iran as “,,,the only country with elections including the United States, including Israel, including you name it, where the liberals, or the progressives, have won two-thirds to 70 percent of the vote in six elections: Two for president; two for the Parliament, the Majlis; two for the mayoralties. In every single election, the guys I identify with got two-thirds to 70 percent of the vote. There is no other country in the world I can say that about, certainly not my own.”

Clinton is greedy and immoral but at least he is sharp and charismatic. Not so, his former Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright whose policy “triumphs” include being a foreign policy adviser to vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro and presidential candidate Michael Dukakis. The Albright group, which she founded, lists as a client, DP World, the Dubai company of the recently aborted ports deal. Press releases hail Albright’s “keen observation skills.” How keen could those skills be if she discovered that she is Jewish at the age of 57?
Maybe it’s her tenacity they want. After dozens of failed efforts to get an agreement between Arafat and Barak, the trio met in Paris in October 2002. This is how the event was described by an Israeli correspondent who accompanied Barak: “Immediately after word of an agreement was released in the U.S. Embassy in the middle of the night, Arafat walked out in anger. Albright ran after him, begging him to stay, just like little kids - it was unbelievable! Arafat didn't stop, so then Albright ordered the gates locked so that he would not be able to get out!” Hours later when the staff assembled for signing of the agreement, “they were all standing around waiting for Arafat, but it turned out that he simply decided not to show up!” Her site advertises “Solution Services.” Hmm.

Then there is former Senator and Minority Leader Robert Dole. Although his wife is a Senator from North Carolina, Robert Dole also signed on to lobby for Dubai. Apparently his stint doing televised commercials for Viagra no longer gives him a rise and he’s out for bigger payments. When he was a candidate for President, Dole asked about opponent Clinton’s lies and ambiguities “Where is the outrage?” Where is it now?

And this is just the tip of the iceberg. Sandy Berger, the National Security Adviser under Clinton who became famous for stuffing purloined classified documents in his hosiery has also been wined and dined by the Arabs along with hot air enthusiast Al Gore, his wife Tipper, who is famous for gaining and losing weight, and Howard Dean, the current Democratic National committee Chairman.

Columnist Debbie Schlussel has disclosed that the President’s brother Neil gets direct and large “fees” from Dubai and there are no doubt dozens lining up for Riyadh’s largesse.

Well, we have established what they are. Now they are just negotiating the fees.