Another Neocon Bites The Dust
- From: PaPaPeng <PaPaPeng@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2007 10:00:39 GMT
The Evil Empire gets another hit. Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld. The people
these guys choose as their top aides reflect very poorly on their own
ethics and judgement. Ongoing is the scandal with the Justice
De[partment where the US Attorney General and his top aides are under
Congressional investigation for politicizing Federal Prosecutor
appointments, not with competent people, but with people who put
loyalty to Bush beyond their duty to their Office.
World Bank board debates Wolfowitz's fate
Richard Adams in Washington
Friday April 13, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2056501,00.html
World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz holds a press conference in
Washington. Photograph: Tim Sloan/AFP/Getty Images
Paul Wolfowitz's position as head of the World Bank looked
increasingly untenable today after he was forced to retreat from a
meeting after being booed by his employees and the bank's governing
board met overnight to decide his fate.
The 24-member executive board met late into the evening yesterday
debating how to handle the matter. At around 10pm Washington time, the
bank released a letter sent by Mr Wolfowitz to the board, asking that
"all the documents related to the board's current review of the case"
be made public - prompting another round of discussions.
The unprecedented events, amid calls for his resignation, were the
latest twist in the saga that saw Mr Wolfowitz yesterday repeatedly
apologise for his role in arranging a promotion and pay rises for his
partner, in possible violation of bank rules.
Mr Wolfowitz's position was further undermined by a tepid response
from the Treasury, which deals with the bank for the US government.
Asked if the Treasury had confidence in Mr Wolfowitz, a senior
official said: "There is a mechanism in place, and I am going to allow
that mechanism to work rather than inject myself into the middle of
it."
Attempting to address around 200 World Bank employees gathered in the
atrium of the bank's plush Washington headquarters yesterday
afternoon, Mr Wolfowitz quickly left after a knot of staff began
chanting "resign, resign" while others also hissed and booed.
One staff member who was in the atrium said: "To see the bank's
president being heckled by his own staff was amazing. He looked
shocked, very shocked, by the reaction and the anger."
Earlier, the bank's staff association - which represents the majority
of the bank's Washington-based employees - called on Mr Wolfowitz to
"act honorably and resign", saying it was "impossible for the
institution to move forward with any sense of purpose under the
present leadership".
Alison Cave, the head of the staff association, said: "The president
must acknowledge that his conduct has compromised the integrity and
effectiveness of the World Bank and has destroyed the staff's trust."
Calls mounted for his resignation after revelations this week that Mr
Wolfowitz personally intervened to secure a substantial pay rise -
from $132,660 to $193,590, tax free - for his girlfriend Shaha Riza, a
bank employee, when Mr Wolfowitz was first appointed president in
2005. Bank rules forbid couples from working together.
Mr Wolfowitz wrote a memo to the bank's head of human resources
detailing salary increases for Ms Riza - contradicting earlier claims
that the matter was dealt with by others.
Aid agencies said the controversy was distracting the institution from
carrying out its role as a leader in development at a vital time. "The
world's poor cannot afford a lame duck president at the World Bank,"
said Oxfam.
In a strongly worded editorial, the Financial Times also called on Mr
Wolfowitz to stand down. Calling the controversy "lethal" to the
bank's credibility, the paper's leader column said: "In the interests
of the bank itself, he should resign. If he does not, the board must
ask him to go."
During a highly charged press conference in Washington, Mr Wolfowitz
apologised for becoming involved in his girlfriend's compensation, but
denied that he had done so voluntarily or for personal reasons. "In
hindsight, I wish I had trusted my original instincts and kept myself
out of the negotiations," he said.
Mr Wolfowitz's fate now lies in the hands of the bank's executive
board members, each representing the World Bank's major donor nations,
ranked by shares reflecting the importance of their stake. The bank's
regulations allow the president to be dismissed by a simple majority
of votes by shareholders - the US being the largest with 16% of
shares.
So far, individual countries have not voiced any public support for Mr
Wolfowitz, with executive board members awaiting instructions from
their country's finance ministers, who are gathering in Washington
this weekend for meetings.
While there is a real possibility the board will ask Mr Wolfowitz for
his resignation, or otherwise make his position untenable, it may
simply reprimand Mr Wolfowitz, thus allowing him to step down in a few
months time when attention has died away.
A controversial figure since his role as a leading advocate of the US
invasion of Iraq, during his time as deputy defence secretary in the
Bush administration, Mr Wolfowitz was appointed by President Bush to
the post at the World Bank.
That appointment, and Mr Wolfowitz's subsequent behaviour, has
strengthened calls for changes to be made to the way that the World
Bank's president is appointed, with aid agencies such as Oxfam calling
for the appointment to be made on merit.
The whole affair is a huge embarrassment for the bank and Mr
Wolfowitz, especially given his desire for a tough stance against
corruption and rewards for good governance. Critics say that Mr
Wolfowitz's own actions have now made a mockery of those aims.
.
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