An unpleasant ode-our?

So, with the US fresh from scandal at placing stories in the Iraqi press you have to wonder what to make of the revelation that an innocent looking poem found in school textbooks in Pakistan is actually a glorious homage to Dubya. No, seriously.

The annonymous poem is titled 'The Leader' and has been taught to 15 - 18 year olds as a rundown of the qualities needed to make a good leader - "Patient and steady"; "Never backs down"; "Tells it straight"; "Bracing for war, praying for peace"; blah-de-blah. Despite its degree of schoolbook-poetry wankiness it's surely innocuous enough, right? Ummmmm....

When you read down the first letter of the twenty lines the truth behind the poem rears it's chimp like head.... PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH. Whoops! The compilers of this textbook must be kicking themselves. That is, if the government aren't doing it for them. After all, this is a staunchly conservative Islamic country whose people are not overly fond of the US alpha male, especially when half the populace think that their own President Pervez Musharraf is in cahoots with him.

The offending poem has now been removed, but that still leaves the question of who wrote it and how did it get there? It was probably an attempt at humour rather than propoganda, as it's hard to imagine anyone believing that this kind of stunt would suddenly generate support for US foreign policy. But then again the situation for Bush seems to have become so desperate that anything could be worth a try.

Cheers m'dears!