Remember when President Bush said he was going to bring honor and integrity back to the Oval Office, implying, of course, that the credibility of the executive branch had been undermined by his predecessor, affectionately known in GOP circles as "Slick Willie"?

Recall with me the words of No. 43's favorite political philosopher: "Ye shall know them by their fruits."

It's unfair to make ultimate judgments about shrubs based on the bearing of questionable pieces of fruit, but for those skeptical of political rhetoric it does raise serious concern when a man of integrity appoints Henry Kissinger -- a guy with a reputation as an international war criminal -- to chair what is perhaps the most important federal commission ever assembled to investigate national security.

I guess honor and integrity took it on the chin when the good Dr. Kissinger resigned from the post the other day.

Sure, if the head of the Nevada boxing commission appointed Don King as chairman of a task force investigating corruption in professional pugilism, it doesn't mean he's a bad guy, right?

I mean, who can better infiltrate the murky underworld of prize-fighting promotion than King? Who cares if it doesn't inspire public confidence?

So if the Kissinger appointment didn't convince you that Bush is dead serious about restoring honor and integrity to the Oval Office, the recent naming of Elliot Abrams as Condoleezza Rice's top aide in charge of Middle Eastern affairs ought to make it a bit clearer.

Abrams is most famous for the perjury he committed as assistant secretary of state for Inter-American Affairs when he testified before Congress during the Iran-Contra hearings.

In October 1991, rather than stand trial for feloniously evading the truth, Abrams pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges of withholding information from Congress. On Nov. 5, 1991, he was sentenced to two years probation and community service. He never completed his sentence because in the final days of No. 41's administration he was given a presidential pardon.

So what does someone who played a significant part in illegal arms dealing and a high-level cover-up do after leaving government service? Go to work as the president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, of course -- a position Abrams was appointed to in July 1996.

Abrams' defenders (like Kissinger supporters) argue that he is a very "competent" diplomat; an intellectual with impressive credentials.

Abrams' credentials are impressive indeed. A Harvard grad with a master's degree in international relations from the London School of Economics, he started his diplomatic career as assistant secretary of state for international organizations, becoming the youngest person ever to rise to the ranks of assistant secretary of state. An upcoming star, Abrams was dubbed by colleagues "the king of Latin America."

Investigative journalist David Harris' book "Shooting the Moon: The True Story of An American Manhunt" provides lots of insider details about Abrams' diplomatic career south of the border.

During his State Department tenure, after defending Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega on behalf of former CIA director George Casey, Abrams flip-flopped when Bush decided to go after the general.

In fact, Abrams went so far as to draft plans to invade Panama. The plan was to use a "surgical strike" deploying commando troops armed with extradition papers and the backing of the world's most powerful military.

"When news of this plan eventually reached the Department of Defense, the reviews were unanimous," Harris writes. " 'Off the wall,' 'cockamamie,' 'comic strip,' 'sloppy' and simply 'bull (expletive)' were perhaps the nicest things said about it there."

Gen. Fred Woerner described Abrams' plan as a "hare-brained scheme ordered into execution before anyone had any time or inclination to work out the details."

Typical of "chicken hawks," Abrams response was that the military brass was made up of a bunch of "wimps."

Harris relates one particular strategy meeting in which former Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. William Crowe rebuked Abrams, saying: "There was no such thing as a 'surgical strike.' . . All military operations are by definition messy. Only someone who had never been involved in one could imagine otherwise."

"As a military man" Crowe was "quite frankly, frightened by such civilian fantasies about military action."

The retired admiral told an acquaintance that Abrams was little more than a "fanatic," Harris reports. "Even years later, the chairman (Crowe) still professed to be mystified at how the secretary of state. . . could delegate Latin America to the likes of this zealot of an assistant secretary."

We need a war hawk "fanatic" in charge of Middle East relations like we need another terrorist attack, which we just might get with such "zealots" as Abrams back in the saddle.

Sean Gonsalves is a columnist with the Cape Cod Times. E-mail: sgonsalves@capecodonline.com

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