(1) He is of Arabic (Lebonese) descent and grew up in that ethnic culture - even though Clinton faked him to be "Irish" so he could send him to mediate in Northern Ireland.
(2) He is the natural father of at least one illegitimate child.
Also, he was a Carter-appointed judge. Somehow he quit a lifetime appointment to the bench to run for public office.(Would anyone here like to have Mitchell presiding over his or her case?)
That was played as an asset when he was investigating the "root causes" of the palestinian conflict. My guess George would have performed well on the Iraq Study Group. He'll have a swell time at the UN if this report is true.