The news that President George W. Bush has converted to Islam is not the strangest news of the political season (one thinks of the recent report that Hilary Clinton had a sex change operation in the early seventies). But, it is certainly one that will have the most far-reaching implications for U.S. foreign policy, not least after the Washington Post revealed over the weekend that Mr. Bush has been secretly instructed in his new faith, over the last six months, by Iranian president, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.  Israel in particular is considered to be in an awkward position –reluctant to alienate a sitting U.S. president, but, equally, unsure of whether the Jewish state can really overlook the obvious implications, especially as President Bush has announced at a press conference that he intends to attend the Haj next year.  Israel’s problem is particularly acute, as it was thought last year that Mr. Bush was about to convert to Judaism.  At that time, he had had a circumcision performed at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.  As things have turned out, that operation will still serve him in good stead.

In the meanwhile, there are serious questions about what Mr. Bush’s conversion will mean for domestic politics.  Some Washington pundits have speculated that it was actually a cynical strategy devised by the Republican National Committee to capture a larger share of the Black vote; but, others have noted that it would simultaneously alienate the Christian right.  Still others, seeking intimations of Mr. Bush’s conversion in his pre-presidential days, pointed out that he had always favored stoning as a form of execution when he was governor of Texas.