So, Wolfie hits the bricks, a victim of internal politics at the World Bank and his association with the Neo-Con Mesopotamian Adventure as much as for his high-salary girl friend. Which, by the way – isn’t there a better word to describe the paramour of a man who is 64 years old?
Oh, there are charges that he didn’t listen well and was an inept manager and all of that might well be true. But the theoretical proximate cause of his ouster was the girlfriend thing, and on that count at least I agree with the WSJ editorial board – the man is getting screwed:
We’ve said from the beginning that the charges against Mr. Wolfowitz were bogus, and that the effort to unseat him amounted to a political grudge by those who opposed his role in the Bush Administration and a bureaucratic vendetta by those who opposed his anti-corruption agenda at the bank. That view was vindicated by yesterday’s statement, which showed how little the merits of the case against Mr. Wolfowitz had to do with the final result.
Mr. Wolfowitz “assured us that he acted ethically and in good faith in what he believed were the best interests of the institution, and we accept that,” the directors said, thus rejecting the findings of a rigged investigating committee that had ignored key evidence. The most damning judgment the directors could muster is that “a number of mistakes were made,” including by the bank’s own ethics committee that had refused to let Mr. Wolfowitz recuse himself from matters involving his girlfriend, Shaha Riza.
In other words, this was all about politics. And all that mattered to Mr. Wolfowitz’s accusers was to be rid of him, whatever the pretext or methods. The least they can do now is restore Ms. Riza to her job, assuming she wants to be part of an organization that treated her so shabbily.
This all may pass as World Bank justice. For the rest of us, it has served as a window into an institution that seems to observe no rule other than the interests of the unaccountable mandarins who consider themselves its rightful owners. There have been plenty of outrages in the bank’s treatment of Mr. Wolfowitz, but for sheer chutzpah nothing exceeds the argument of last week’s report by the investigating committee of the board that he had put the institution “in a bad and unfair light” by daring to defend himself publicly against selective and false media leaks designed to smear him. Had Mr. Wolfowitz taken that advice, he would have been out on his ear without so much as the benefit of the formal acquittal he has now received.
But he should probably have seen this coming – he came to the World Bank with a plan to rattle the china by introducing more transparency into the loan process, demanding accountability both from Bank employees and countries asking for help. That spoiled the chummy atmosphere of a place where bureaucratic success was measured by how quickly the money got shoveled out and points off for asking how it got spent on the other end. Still, the players at that level play hard ball and Wolfowitz allowed them in under his guard. Life in the big city.
So: Out with the old.
We can do this: All. Day. Long.
My sentiments exactly. It’s worth remembering that when someone whips out the “neocon” line, they’re not talking about conservatism at all. I’m sure Bolton was con before con was kewl.
This is Bush Derangement Syndrome at its outlying best. Seems that any association with the current administration – no matter how close or distant – is cause for BDS to rear it’s ugly head.
Ummm… Concubine?
John V.
Whenever the “neocon” label is thrown out, I get really suspicious.
Most of the people that use that phrase, don’t really know the meaning of it and are merely using it for the ad hominem value that they perceive it to have.
Wolfowitz was shafted either way you look at it.
Wasn’t Soros behind the scenes on this one?
As far as defining the right terminology for women who are in carnal relationships with older men, how about the Time magazine usage from back in the days when it was at least trying to be a news magazine. They always referred to King Carol of Rumania’s lady friend Magda Lupescu as his “great good friend.” Got to admit it has a certain reckless charm. I can even recite a limerick about it from my youthful days.
Marianne Matthews
What’s wrong with “Lover”? Of course, there was the Russian girlfriend who regularly introduced me as “The MF”, since she fit the first half of the equation.
Best friend with benefits?
Nah, I hate that one….
The World bank? Who cares. Not me. I don’t think they’d give me a loan, would they? That douche McNamara spent an eternity there..doesn’t that tell ya something? Wolfowitz, Feith..several others they all fit that mold. Somedays I ain’t happy young George fell in with ‘em….
Ain’t the World Bank sort of the UN of banking? Another bad idea I’ll bet and way to spend my taxdollars. Seems to me, they just attract all those nutty anarchists to demonstrate..
I read George “E” Soros was behind this ouster, too EJ. You know, he’s getting to be as influential and manipulative as those arch criminals in a Bond film..J.B. may hafta take him out. Nothing worse than some weasle-wort foreign-born, grifter-like, billionaire coming to this country and then trying to subvert it for political reasons- yes Mr. Soros, if you’re listening, I am calling you un-American and a sneaky friggin weasle-wort.
b2
How about POOSLiT for an acronym?
Persons
Of
Oppisite
Sex
Living
Together
Opposite Should be anyways.
As you can probably guess, I’m not crying about Wolfowitz. He’s walking out the door with a 400,000+ bonus. A lot ofsmart economists felt he needed to go, and not just because he had embraced a bankrupt ideology as while at DOD.
“I read George ?
“I read George “E” Soros was behind this ouster,…”
I read that too, in several places. I hear he [Soros] is behind several of the really left movements, like MoveOn Org.
With his billions I imagine he gets pretty much what he wants.
Papa Ray
Concur with B^2, here. Oh, and EJ? You can be a neocon without being a Jew, or a Jew without being a neocon. There are lots of silly gentile neocons, y’know, or as Jerry Pournelle calls them, “Neo-Jacobins.”
All of these people with perfect plans to perfect the planet remind me of me. I mean, I thought folks with autistic traits were kept away from the levers of power?
What’s up, here?
Concubine…..I prefer consort myself. It implies being more than just sex partner.
I have no tears for Wolfie. He made his bed.
I love John Bolton.
Worst part is the girl will probably end up dumping him too……….So then he has to start hunting for a both a job and a girlfriend……
Oh, Skippy, Wolfy ain’t hurting. As I’m sure you know, once one advances to a sufficiently high level in a bureaucracy, he can do no wrong. Look at the many Legions of Merit bestowed on people who were, well, fired. Need I mention Robert Strange McNamara?
For all of you opining that the passing of Wolfowitz from the halls of the WB is a good thing, allow me to point out that had he used the position as a corrupt sinecure from which to rake in the bucks, while allowing corrupt bureaucrats throughout the world to loot the coffers, the board would have no complaints.
unkawill said:
“Opposite Should be anyways.”
Yup. Otherwise it would just be
Persons
Of
Sex
Living
Together
I concur with Casca. The WB is a racket of the tranzi elite. That they jumped all over him for something that was not really a bad thing at all implies a kind of guiltiness of conscience, if people like those in the WB can be said to have consciences.