The Pope, Neil Bush, and a mysterious Swiss foundation

Previously, I argued that the Pope has nowhere near the political power many ascribe to him. I have also argued that, instead of whining about the Pope's conservative stances on sexual issues, Democratic activists should capitalize on Protestant fundamentalism's ineradicable tendency toward anti-Catholic bigotry. (See, for example, Reverend Dobson's recent remarks, as well as Tim LaHaye's loathsome legacy.)

Dems need the Catholic vote. We must remind American Catholics that Bush's primary supporters -- theocratic fundamentalists -- view the Pope as the Antichrist.

Now, I don't think Benedict XVI is the Antichrist. But to be frank, I haven't much reason to like him.

This Newsday story draws our attention to an enigmatic aspect of the Pope's history: In 1999, he joined with the current president's brother, Neil Bush, in the creation of a little-known Swiss ecumenical group called The Foundation for Interreligious and Intercultural Research.

The Foundation lists wide-ranging participants -- France's chief rabbi Rene Samuel Sirat, the late Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, Jordan's Prince Hassan and others.

We have conflicting reports as to just what this foundation does. Supposedly, their big project is to publish the Old Testament in the original Hebrew. An odd goal, that -- one can find such Bibles in any good university library. On the other hand, the foundation "is listed by Dun & Bradstreet business credit reports as a management trust for purposes other than education, religion, charity or research." Which means...what, precisely?

Some may suspect that the organization is something of a front. How else to account for the presence of Neil Bush, a notorious financial fraudster? His Silverado Savings and Loan scandal ripped off the taxpayers to the tune of many, many millions.

(Some will also recall that he was scheduled to have dinner with Scott Hinckley, scion of a Bush-supporting family, on March 31, 1981 -- the day Scott's brother John shot Reagan. Coincidence, of course.)

At no other time in his life has Neil Bush displayed any interest in religion or the international ecumenical movement. Although Bush is no longer active in the foundation, Syrian-born "Orthodox lay person" Jamal Daniel -- Bush's close friend and business partner -- remains heavily involved.

Daniel's primary company, Crest Investment, pays Neil $60,000 a year for a do-nothing "consulting" job. (Nice work if you can get it!) The Financial Times offered this quote from an unnamed Neil Bush confidant: "Jamal likes to ingratiate himself with family members of whoever's in power." The quid pro quo should be familiar to anyone who knows W's history: A member of the Bush family lends his all-powerful name, and Daniel manages to secure high-paying government contracts for his firm.

Bush and Daniel are also partners in a Swiss company called Silvermat, which supplies the hospitality industry, and in New Bridge Strategies, which helps clients win contracts in Iraq.

So we have good reason to ask: Just what is this Geneva-based ecumenical foundation really getting up to? Ratzinger has never been a notable friend to the ecumenical movement, while the American "born again" contingent (the Bush dynasty's power base) despises anything that smacks of ecumenism.

I do note that Ratzinger did his level best to unsettle Catholic support for Kerry in 2004. Is there a connection between the new Pope and the Bush family?

Perhaps we should take brief note of the other worthies involved with this Foundation for Interreligious and Intercultural Research.

Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, who died in 2003, was the head of the Ismailis. (They can be traced back to the Crusader-era "Assassin" sect, a colorful history which has no impact on our current study.) This handy page-o-dirt on the Bush family includes this fascinating paragraph:

In 1984 Vice President Bush and his appointments secretary, Jennifer Fitzgerald, enjoyed adjoining bedrooms in a Swiss chateau on Lake Geneva belonging to the Aga Khan's son, Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, a classmate of Bush at Yale. Ambassador Fields said there was no household staff for the couple and "that' s why I had to help make certain arrangements for the laundry, that sort of thing." He said it "became clear to me that the Vice President and Ms. Fitzgerald were romantically involved and this was not a business visit...

(The reference is, of course, to Bush the elder. Reports of an affair with Ms. Fitzgerald received some circulation in 1988 and 1992.)

In 1991, the first President Bush backed the Prince to become the Secretary General of the United Nations, a post that went instead to Boutros Boutros-Ghali. Obviously, Khan was close to the Bush family -- although one should mention that the Prince sharply disagreed with Bush the elder on the issue of sanctions against Saddam's Iraq.

Prince El Hassan bin Talal of Jordan may be the most pro-American and pro-Israel figure in his country. Interestingly enough, he is a good friend of the disgraced Ahmed Chalabi. When Chalabi's Petra bank corruption led to an indictment in that country, the Prince personally drove Chalabi out of the country -- in the trunk of his car, it is said. (Incidentally, there has been some wild talk of elevating the Hashemite clan to the throne in Saudi Arabia, should the Saudis fall. There was also once speculation that Hasan would rule Jordan and Iraq as a united Hashemite state.)

Hassan is also the president of the Club of Rome, which figures into a number of over-the-top right-wing conspiracy theories. All that aside, the Prince has some very reasonable things to say in a BBC interview here.

I've found nothing at all on Sirat, beyond the fact that he attended a conference in Jerusalem with Ratzinger.

Keep an eye on this story. Sometimes a foundation isn't just a foundation.