If AQ Khan is Mandela, then Manmohan Singh is Bill Clinton

The tweet intrigued me:

Nuke dealer AQ Khan tells FP: "I am just a guide, some sort of Lee Kwan Yew, Mahathir,or, hopefully, Mandela"foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/…
— Josh Keating (@joshuakeating) September 5, 2012

AQ Khan as being a Mandela?  Perhaps the one jotting down the notes misheard Khan?

Turns out there was no mistake--it was an email interview, and that is what Khan said. Yes, the same Khan who was the technical and business brain behind Pakistan becoming the nuclear retail outlet mall now thinks of himself as a Nelson Mandela!

The love and affection the whole nation has shown me during all my trials and tribulations has given me what no money can buy. I want to help the country out of this rut and for it to become a respected, moderate, peaceful welfare state having friendly relations with all, especially its immediate neighbours, and enmity with none. I do not want this country to play mercenary to foreign powers. ...
I am just a guide -- some sort of Lee Kwan [sic] Yew, the former PM of Singapore, Mahathir [of Malaysia] or, hopefully, Mandela. I will only advise on good governance. 

Muahahaha!  No need to send in the clowns!

I do concede this observation of his:

To them a pirate like Francis Drake becomes Sir Francis; James Cook, who murdered innocent Polynesians, is a hero and those who murdered Iraqis, Afghans, Vietnamese, and Koreans now have chests full of ribbons and medals. [Former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem] Begin, [former President George W.] Bush, [former British Prime Minister Tony] Blair, [former French President Nicolas] Sarkozy, etc. who all caused (ordered) the murder of hundreds of thousands of innocent people are highly respected.  ...
Does France have any regrets about surreptitiously supplying nuclear weapons technology to Israel? Does Russia regret supplying that technology to China and North Korea? Do the British have regrets about stealing secrets from Los Alamos in the late forties or early fifties? There are many double standards in the world. What is good for me may be bad for you. What is just for you may be a crime for me. 

Now, Khan appears because of a specific development:

the controversial nuclear scientist is entering Pakistan's political arena. He recently announced the formation of the Movement for the Protection of Pakistan -- or Tehreek Tahaffuze Pakistan (TTP) in Urdu -- which he conceives as an organization that will back worthy candidates in the country's upcoming national assembly elections.

Worthy candidates backed by this Dr. Strangelove ought not be allowed anywhere outside the prison walls!

Across the border from this nuclear nutcase, another technocrat is getting himself into deeper and deeper trouble.  I am referring to the distinguished academic, Manmohan Singh, who "accidentally" became India's prime minister, and has been a sorry figure the last couple of years.

The Washington Post's story (its correction at the top of the story is interesting all by itself!) is headlined "India's 'silent' prime minister becomes a tragic figure."

Silent Singh he certainly has been, even as every morning dawns with yet another corruption scandal or tales of abuse of power by those in his party.

So silent that my friend has been having fun using "manmohan" to mean, well, check it out :)