When Britain's Secretary Of State For International Development Simon Foster states, in the midst of a radio interview, that a war in the Middle East in "unforeseeable," it doesn't follow his government's "line" on events. The problem is that war is not unforeseeable, what with America itching to invade somewhere in the Middle East and the British government loyally following. Unfortunately, Foster suspects nothing about the firestorm to follow. By the next day, Foster is the target of the Prime Minister's director of communications Malcolm Tucker, and the focus of attention for anti-war American diplomat Karen Clarke. After US General George Miller and State Department hawk Linton Barwick jump into the mix, Foster's mountain of an ill-chosen remark turns into a series of festering molehills. In the end, one thing is clear: grave matters involving global power cannot be separated from the pettiness of democratic governance, which is impelled by careerism, vanity, moral compromise and--at least in London--by ear-singeing profanity