COMING TO AMERICA Bandar and his scandal, with Donald Rumsfeld

As Saudi Prince Bandar's UK scandal rages, the monocles of horrified British defense contractors keep plunking into martini glasses. And since the media hot-dog prince has famous friendships with Washington's power-elite, one has to wonder when a similar scandal may wash up on our shores.

The UK tempest started with allegations that British defense behemoth BAE Systems secretly funneled nearly $2 billion to Bandar's Washington, D.C., bank accounts in return for the highly profitable privilege of catering to the Saudi's weapons needs. British Prime Minister Tony Blair tried to halt the probe last year, but British investigators have since unsheathed their calabash pipes and oversize magnifying glasses, tracking the trail of money in a shadowy, Syriana-esque world of international intrigue and ugly global realities. Now investigators from both the U.S. Justice Department and Congress may join in the hunt.

One can almost hear the nervous gulps coming from Washington, where leaders are intimately familiar with Bandar's outsize antics. The former ambassador has a dazzling D.C. highlight reel of brokering secret arms deals, barging into secret meetings with bags of hamburgers, and even buying a Jaguar for Colin Powell.

But few in D.C. are closer to Bandar than President Bush—new scrutiny on Bandar deals even deeper body blows to a bruised White House Administration. Plus, the world's great Petro-Monster, the House of Saud, is now seriously displeased with the U.S. caper in Iraq and has been inching towards closer relations with other oil-hungry parts of the world.

Bandar, the son of a concubine and heir to the Saudi throne (also dubbed "Mr. Ten Percent" for his own reported skill in personally profiting from weapons deals), has categorically denied any impropriety. Now ... who wants a hamburger?!