Last we saw Paul "everything-I-touch-turns-to-quagmire" Wolfowitz, the architect of the Iraq war and miserable failure as president of the World Bank was licking his wounds as a fellow at the right-wing think tank, the American Enterprise Institute. Now comes word via Michael Turton's View From Taiwan, that Wolfowitz has accepted the position of chairman of the board of the U.S.-Taiwan Business Council.

The U.S.-Taiwan Business Council describes itself as "a non-profit organization dedicated to developing the trade and business relationship between the United States and Taiwan." The gig is reputed to be non-paying, so maybe, in the best of all possible worlds, the Taiwanese can hope that Wolfowitz doesn't feel burdened by the necessity of putting too much effort into the job.

Because his track record, to put it mildly, just isn't good. If Taiwan's affairs proceed in a fashion analogous to the fortunes of the Iraq war or Wolfowitz's campaign against corruption at the World Bank, then we can expect the following disasters in short order: a Chinese invasion, the collapse of Taiwan's computer industry, and the return of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek from beyond the grave as a Quran-quoting jihad warrior. And probably a couple of nasty typhoons, to boot.

As one regular observer of Taiwan affairs noted, "reaction, informally, in U.S.-Taiwan circles to the surprise announcement of Paul Wolfowitz as chairman of the US-Taiwan Business Council has been, to be frank, incredulous."

What were they thinking?