By Al Kamen
Wednesday, December 5, 2007; A27

A mixed bag this week for the axis of not-quite-evil. Vladimir Putin, the Russian president and former KGB thug, scored big on his alleged free elections, which effectively could make him prime minister for life of that budding democracy.

Venezuelan President Hugo Ch¿vez, however, got a bit of a smackdown from the voters when he tried to do pretty much the same thing. So now he's in office only until 2012.

But Axis of Evil founding member Iran has had the best week of the evildoers so far. The Bush administration was forced to reverse its allegations that the country still has an ongoing nuclear weapons program and now says the rogue nation's secret nukes program ended back in 2003.

Normally this could be considered a great embarrassment to Washington, but we prefer to look to the future, not to harp on the past. Easier that way.

Meanwhile, a yellow flag and 15-yard penalty for International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Mohamed ElBaradei for unsportsmanlike conduct -- taunting -- after the new intelligence assessment on Iran was released.

ElBaradei "received with great interest the new U.S. National Intelligence Estimate about Iran's nuclear program which concludes that there has been no ongoing nuclear weapons program in Iran since the fall of 2003," says yesterday's IAEA news release. "Great interest" indeed. Way too snarky.

But what really drew the flag was his unseemly I-told-you-so gloating: ElBaradei "notes in particular that the estimate tallies with the [IAEA's] consistent statements over the last few years that, although Iran still needs to clarify some important aspects of its past and present nuclear activities, the agency has no concrete evidence of an ongoing nuclear weapons program or undeclared nuclear facilities in Iran."

Next thing you know, he'll be angling for another Nobel Peace Prize and reminding us about his reports before the war that Saddam Hussein had no WMDs. That would have drawn another 15 for unnecessary roughness.

Whatever happened to etiquette? Propriety?

Meanwhile, the last couple of weeks could not have been easy for Vice President Cheney. Week before last, he gets his preliminary briefing from the intelligence folks, who tell him that the 2005 intelligence report on Iranian nukes is no longer operative.

Then last week, Axis of Evil wannabe Syria shows up in town as part of the Mideast peace conference hoopla. On Nov. 26, none other than former vice president Al Gore actually showed up at the White House and was in the Oval Office. (With Bush keeping an eye on him, we trust.) Next thing you know, Cheney's in the hospital, where doctors discovered an irregular heartbeat -- must be a causal relationship there somewhere -- and applied an electric shock to restore a normal rhythm.

So who can blame him if he took a pass on the White House black-tie Christmas party for members of Congress Monday night and headed off to Arkansas for a little hunting trip, our colleague Mary Ann Akers reports, then on to Texas yesterday for a fundraiser for GOP Rep. Ralph Hall. Cheney went duck hunting and did a fundraiser for the Arkansas GOP last month, charging guests $1,000 for a picture with him.

Payvand Iran News, an Iranian Web site, carried a down-the-middle report of the new nukes assessment: "A new U.S. intelligence estimate says it is not clear that Iran is determined to produce nuclear weapons. The estimate says Iran stopped nuclear weapons development four years ago, but adds that Tehran is keeping its options open."

Its source? The Voice of America.

The opportunity of a lifetime! The government is paying up to $144,000 for a "business development/tourism" expert to "work with private sector businesses and local governments in fostering business development with a particular focus on tourism and related services."

The 13-month job also offers a 35 percent "danger pay" premium and other bonuses because it's based in Baghdad.

Yes, as the surge continues to calm things, the State Department figures it's time for the tourists to show up. But Iraqi tourism has been on the skids for many years and jump-starting projects will not be easy.

So one of your jobs will be "recognizing and reporting on obstacles to business development" -- small-arms fire, roadside bombs, for example -- and to be "a catalyst for new ideas."

Maybe some offshore casinos around Basra? Shopping malls in Ramadi? The legendary Fallujah theme park with water slides?

Applications due by Dec. 12.

Who says there are no second chances in life? Paul Wolfowitz, the former deputy secretary of defense and World Bank president, may soon be back in service to the American people. Former colleague Mike Isikoff, now at Newsweek, reports that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has offered Wolfowitz, a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a job as chairman of the State Department's International Security Advisory Board, and that Wolfowitz has accepted.

Pending completion of background checks, he would be named to replace former senator and foreign policy expert Fred Thompson.

Wolfowitz, a key mover on the Iraq war, will head the 18-member group, which is to advise Rice on disarmament, nuclear proliferation, WMDs and such.

"We think he is well suited and will do an excellent job," one senior official said. No doubt.