Well, the Wolfster is out of a job, but I suspect he's not dumpster-diving for his next meal.
Sucking your thumb again, eh, Paul? (Courtesy npr.org)
In a statement seemingly written to honor someone who's retiring after a long, distinguished career, the World Bank's Executive Directors demonstrated what a bunch of spineless wimps they are by allowing FOG (Friend Of George) Paul Wolfowitz to resign while essentially absolving him of any wrongdoing. In fact, they made it sound as though he'd been a pillar of the Bank. Wolfowitz's "resignation" press release, about 2,000 words long, five times that of the Bank's, sounded like one written by someone who had just won the Nobel Prize.
His resignation takes effect on 30 June 2007.
The Executive Board could have voted to fire him, but lacked the gumption to do so. Its resignation statement bore the infamous words "Mistakes were made". Obviously, Alberto Gonzales had something to do with all this.
You can read the press releases and hear the NPR story at:
www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10239438&sc=emaf
Lost in all this are the effects on Wolfowitz's companion, Shaha Riza. By every account, this very bright woman, a democratic Arab Muslim feminist (four words rarely in such juxtaposition) has gotten a raw deal. She had been at the Bank for eight years before Wolfowitz arrived in June 2005. She feels she has been damaged, and she's right. See
www.usatoday.com/money/world/2007-05-17-wolfowitz-riha_N.htm?POE=click-refer
The above article hints that she's not too happy with Wolfowitz for essentially exiling her to the State Department.
Riza sounds like exactly the kind of person the World Bank needs to keep around. Or maybe the State Department could use her; she'd been dispatched there by Wolfowitz.
A novel idea: President Bush should appoint her as the new World Bank President.
"Society is like a stew. If you don't keep it stirred up you get a lot of scum on top." -- Edward Abbey
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