Paul Wolfowitz, head of World Bank and one of chief architects of US war on Iraq, is struggling to stay afloat amidst revelations that he “personally dictated” a gargantuan pay packet for this domestic partner, Shaha Ali Riza.
It appears now that the Riza angle goes much further back with Daily Mirror alluding to the relationship in March 2005. (Washington Post had a similar report). The Daily Mirror goes on to say that Riza was key in shaping Paul’s (and hence US administration’s) decision to invade Iraq. It is hard to substantiate this claim but there is little doubt in my mind that Riza had a key role in shaping attitudes of Paul Wolfowitz and the administration towards Iraq.
Women like Shaha Riza Ali belong to the select group of Arab women, Ayan Hirsi Ali and Azhar Nafisi are two others that come to my mind, who have risen to the top primarily due to their vocal (and much feted) articulation of female subjugation under Muslim cultures. These women have successfully transformed their personal suffering, both real and imagined, into vendetta against the entire culture through influencing public policy led by racist western hacks (primarily men) only too ready to act on whatever exaggerated personal hateful claims that they dare to make. This sad tradition of public policy making is by no means limited to policy on the Middle East – It in fact is part of a broader pool of policy making directed by racists from minority communities like Michelle Malkin (who has been called a “pathological racist”), Clarence Thomas, Dinesh D’Souza etc. Racist ethnic minorities provide other racist hacks in power to articulate their innermost prejudices without fearing the backlash. This happens equally on television shows and in the realm of policy making, which works through the media.