World Bank, IMF pull staff out of Iraq

AP | 8/20/03 | EDITH M. LEDERER

[kattracks]

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund informed the U.S. Treasury Department that they were pulling their staff out of Iraq on Wednesday, following the bombing of the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad, a U.S. official said.

"It's disappointing considering that all international organizations should be strengthening their resolve to fight terror after this bombing," the U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The IMF and the World Bank are key players in efforts by the U.S.-led coalition now running Iraq to rebuild the country's devastated economy. Both institutions are expected to provide billions of dollars in loans to help restart the country's banking system and get the economy functioning again, and had sent assessment teams to Iraq to start the process.

By contrast, U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard said only two people among the 300 or so U.N. international staffers in Baghdad had taken up a U.N. offer of voluntary repatriation.

"I think the staff is pretty committed to staying on the job," he said. "The leadership is reassessing security."

The bomb killed top U.N. envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello and 19 others, and wounded at least 100 people. Ahmad Chalabi, a member of the U.S.-picked interim Iraqi government, said the death toll is expected to rise because people are still trapped in the rubble.

Eckhard, citing the U.N. security coordinator's office in Baghdad, said 16 bodies have been recovered but only seven have been identified. Twenty wounded U.N. staff members were evacuated to Amman, Jordan, he said.

"There has been a de facto suspension of U.N. operations in Baghdad," Eckhard said, adding that they were looking at alternative ways to house the headquarters unit "so that we can get operations up and running again."

[comnet]

2002: Arnold, Buffett meet with Rothschilds, other elites

Reuters, Sept. 24, 2002: WADDESDON MANOR, England (Reuters) - The world's second-richest man dropped into the English countryside with the Terminator at his side on Monday, a day after warning the UK's corporate big game his elephant gun was loaded.

Billionaire Warren Buffett and mean machine Arnold Schwarzenegger touched down by helicopter on the immaculate lawns of Waddesdon manor, a Renaissance-style chateau in the undulating hills of Buckinghamshire.

Buffett, 72, is guest of honor at a closed two-day meeting of some of the world's most powerful businessmen and financiers -- the ultimate networking opportunity.

The get-together in the ancestral home of the Rothschild banking family will discuss economic and political issues Among those invited to Waddesdon Manor were the likes of James Wolfensohn, president of the World Bank, Jorma Ollila, chief executive of Nokia and De Beers chairman Nicky Oppenheimer.

A group of photographers captured the moment when Buffett and Schwarzenegger, resplendent in steel-tipped cowboy boots, stepped onto Waddesdon's freshly cut lawn to be greeted by Lord Jacob Rothschild. . .

[txhurl]

oncpm[etants

Incompetents?

[Momaw Nadon]

RUN AWAY! RUN AWAY!

[sam_paine]

Makes me wonder what might've happened if McVeigh had hit the UN in NYC, instead of US in OKC. Would they have given up and relocated to Paris?

[gathersnomoss]

IMF to Iraq: AMF

[OldFriend]

I'm with you. The World Bank and the IMF have caused far more problems than they ever solved. Any country that deals with them has a death wish.

Or is it that the entities and the heads of state simply split up the money and let the country go to hell?

[bert]

.... Or is it that the entities and the heads of state simply split up the money and let the country go to hell?....

In some cases. US$11 billion was funneled to Russia via the IMF. Marc Rich ran it through his macic machine and it came back thru Zurich. How much of that paid for Chelsa's stay at Stanford?

How much does algore have stashed away?

Argentina? can't say.

[bert]

Sorry.....Wednesday is "Spelling is Optional Day" in my office.

[OldFriend]

Thanks for confirming my suspicions.

Pretty sad state of affairs.(No pun intended)

[Cyber Liberty]

Relax, DB. You know me better than that.

[dirtboy]

Well, then quit belittling those who have serious issues with Arnold and instead demand Arnold to adapt more conservative positions if you think he should be elected. If the right says nothing, Arnold won't pay attention to them - it's that simple, and since there isn't a primary in this election, the first 3-4 weeks will have to suffice as the time to air differences.

[Cyber Liberty]

I'm not saying much of anything else for the interim now, anyway, except to make a wild prediction that the way things are going, Bustamove's gonna win this one with barely 1/3 the vote. McC will get around 10, and Scharzzenegger will end up with about 30.

Whatever one thinks of the CA Republican Party, it's had it as a political force after this snap election. They are proving that they will never unite, even in the face of the most inept administration in CA history. An amazing feat, considering Davis followed two Republican administrations.

Out of the Governor's office for 5 years and they'll be lucky to keep a few assembly seats from instate. A record of self-destruction unmatched by even the Whigs.

[happygrl]

The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund informed the U.S. Treasury Department that they were pulling their staff out of Iraq.

No guts, no glory.

Wussy bureaucrats.