IMF-Security Concerns About Meetings Not Overstated (The commies are coming to DC)

The International Monetary Fund (news - web sites) said on Friday that security concerns surrounding the annual meetings which it shares with the World Bank (news - web sites) are not overstated.

An IMF spokesman said that some of the protest organizers have indicated that their protests during the September 29-30 meetings will not be peaceful.

``For those who think that security concerns are perhaps overstated, there really are quite a few indications that people are planning activities that do not fit in the peaceful category,'' Tom Dawson, External Relations Director told reporters at a press briefing here.

He said that the fund had tried to learn from previous experiences ``but there is clearly a serious security threat''.

Washington police expect as many as 100,000 demonstrators to converge on the nation's capital to protest the two lenders' policies as well as those of President Bush (news - web sites).

The police department will shut down large areas of downtown Washington, erect two miles (three km) of 9-foot-high (three-meter-high) fencing and has secured more than 3,000 police officers from as far afield New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore, which will double police presence to about 7,000 officers.

Meanwhile, other parts of the city are preparing for the worst. George Washington University informed students via e-mail on Thursday that it will shut down all operations from Sept. 27 until Oct. 2 because of the meetings.

``The University expects all students to leave the Foggy Bottom Campus area during this time period,'' GWU President Stephen Trachtenberg said in an e-mail according to a press release from the students.

The expected protests, which will surround the White House and the headquarters of the IMF and the World Bank, follow recent outbreaks of violence that have rocked host cities of global summits from Seattle to Prague and Quebec City.

Students Protest Closure of GWU

The closure of George Washington University's Foggy Bottom campus for five days because of World Bank (news - web sites) protests has some students up in arms.

About 30 of them staged an afternoon rally today. They're upset about extra expenses and inconveniences from forcing them out of their dorms.

Students who said they planned to take part in the World Bank protests also feel the university is siding with the financial institution and limiting their right to demonstrate.

University officials met with some of the student representatives.

School president Stephen Trachtenberg says the university has agreed to let police use a building to feed officers during the meetings. But they have turned down the World Bank's request to hold events on campus during the September 29th and 30th meetings.

The university is scrambling to accommodate students who show a financial need, have a medical condition or live a great distance away from Washington. The school is looki! ng! at putting students up in hotels, the Mount Vernon campus or even stay with District residents who have offered their homes.

The school is also trying to get students discount airfares. But Trachtenberg says reimbursement to students for other expenses is unlikely.

Emergency travel loans of up to $600 are available and the university is offering some students with a demonstrated financial need round-trip bus transportation to select cities within 250 miles of the campus.

GWU will re-open its campus on October 2, following the weekend finance meetings.

Meanwhile, a high-ranking World Bank economist is under scrutiny for publicly criticizing the financial institution's record on fighting poverty.

The New York Times report that the World Bank is now conducting disciplinary investigation into William Easterly because he did not receive permission to write his article.

World Bank president James D. Wolfensohn has also been the subject of criticism recently. Critics accuse him of leading the Bank far astray of its traditional mission to enhance economic growth around the world.

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/wjla/20010907/lo/students_protest_closure_of_gwu_1.html

mission to enhance economic growth around the world

any criticism would be justified, but probably for the wrong reasons

the i.m.f and world bank have NEVER contributed to growth, as they have no clue what causes it

in return for loans and guarantees, their proscriptions are invariably for austerity and devaluation, and their many basket cases bounce from one crisis to the next

never once have they required or even suggested that tax rates in general, or marginal tax rates in particular, be cut AGRESSIVELY, or that useless government regulation and meddling be SEVERELY curtailed

how to make the pie larger is something they will never understand

I've seen the result of the IMF and WB's work in places like Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua. The ruling "elite" get richer and the poor become slaves... this is one reason why so many Hondurans, Salvadorans and Nicarguans are coming illegally to the U.S. The U.S. ambassador to Mexico, Jeffrey Davidow, recently told the Mexican government that "it is time" now for Mexico to apply to the IMF.... apparently Mexico is not deteriorating quickly enough for Davidow. The IMF and WB serve a purpose other than that of making the rich more wealthy, these two institutions are instrumental in getting a nation to surrender its sovereignty and fall within the globalist camp. Most of our ambassadors now work for the IMF and WB and not for Americans... in this they're serving the agenda of Clinton and both father and son Bush.

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