Free Republic

<p>World Bank employees who lead the agency's drive to battle corruption in poor nations urged ``clear and decisive actions'' to decide the future of President Paul Wolfowitz.</p> <p>"We are deeply concerned by the impact of the current leadership crisis on the bank's credibility and authority,'' said the letter to Wolfowitz and the bank's board, signed by 46 employees. ``Our own governance standards must be upheld and enforced impartially and without exception,'' the letter said, ``even when they touch the highest levels of this institution.''</p>

One of the most revealing subplots in the European coup attempt against World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz is who is coming to the American's defense. The rich European donor countries want him to resign, while the Africans who are the bank's major clients are encouraging him to stay. SNIP Sub-Saharan Africa is the world's poorest region, and Mr. Wolfowitz has appropriately made it his top priority. On his first day on the job, he met with a large group of African ambassadors and advocates. His first trip as bank president was a swing through Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Rwanda and South...

The New York Times reports that "Paul D. Wolfowitz accused the bank's board on Wednesday of treating him 'shabbily and unfairly,'and appealed for more time to defend himself against allegations of favoritism and other matters," indicating the Directors were taken aback by his forceful demand for fair treatment. The incident which was used to smear him--the false accusations of mishandling the settlement contract with Ms Riza,-- appears to have been a red herring. The paper notes: "[T]he bank's board is also investigating allegations that he has relied on a small coterie of aides, also with high salaries, and that he...

Paul Wolfowitz's conduct at the World Bank is outrageous and he deserves to be fired—although, let's face it, any woman who would sleep with him does deserve a raise—but let's not be romantic about his Bank opponents. To hear it from them, once Wolfie is out the door, the Bank will get back to its core mission. If by core mission they mean rewarding corrupt, Third World elites and making the poor poorer, I think they'd be correct. There are few organizations that have done more harm to the people of the planet than the World Bank. During the 1960s...

Barracks language edited out, Tommy Franks once referred to the Pentagon's No. 3, Doug Feith, as "the dumbest guy on the planet." It now appears Gen. Franks' honorific better applies to Feith's boss, the Pentagon No. 2, Paul Wolfowitz. For a man once hailed as the brightest of the neocons, Wolfie has behaved with a stupidity born of the arrogance of power. Hailed in 2003 as architect of the Iraq victory, Wolfowitz, by late 2004, was being singled out as the bumbler of postwar planning and the man most responsible for what Gen. William Odom was already calling the greatest...

I'm shocked, shocked to hear there is nepotism at the World Bank. Well, maybe not all that shocked. Until 2005, the wife of the bank's managing director, Shengman Zhang of China, worked directly under him. The bank also employed a brother of its chief economist and senior vice president, Nicholas Stern of Britain, violating its own rule against employing siblings.

The independent agency charged with assessing the effectiveness of the World Bank has issued a searing indictment of Paul Wolfowitz’s leadership, warning that his actions are undermining the bank’s ability to pursue development work. In a formal statement, which the bank’s board will consider this week, the Independent Evaluation Group said “development effectiveness is being jeopardised by serious governance problems that have recently come to light”. The IEG statement comes as the board prepares to reach a judgment as to whether Mr Wolfowitz broke bank rules or ethics when he ordered its human resources chief to give his girlfriend Shaha...

In the real world, it takes about a week for someone who has disgraced himself like radio talk-show host Don Imus to lose his job. In Washington, World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz and Attorney-General Alberto Gonzales hang on to their jobs for what seems like forever. Mr Wolfowitz was caught dissembling about how his girlfriend, World Bank employee Shaha Riza, got a raise that was double the size allowed and a guarantee of glowing reviews when she moved from the bank to the State Department to avoid cronyism charges. His legal team was unwilling to bend the rules, so he...

Unfortunately, that thumbnail sketch [of Ms.Riza's cxompensation package]omits some highly relevant facts. It was Mr. Wolfowitz who, before taking over at the bank, called the potential conflict of interest to the attention of the bank's ethics committee. He asked to be recused from any personnel decisions involving Ms. Riza. The committee agreed that a conflict existed, but it said that could probably be solved only by Ms. Riza leaving the bank, either permanently or on loan to another agency. The committee also told Mr. Wolfowitz that, if she chose to go elsewhere, Ms. Riza should be given a raise because...

Pity Paul Wolfowitz: Every time he tries regime change, he triggers an insurrection. The latest revolt was launched by World Bank staffers and Western aid leaders in response to the revelation that Wolfowitz -- who had made a crusade against corruption the hallmark of his bumpy tenure as president of the World Bank -- may have awarded his companion a $60,000 pay increase. A staff that had always hated working for the intellectual architect of the Iraq war was now quite literally shouting for his resignation, and Wolfowitz was left wandering the corridors of the bank looking for a Green...

World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz is embroiled in scandal. A controversy surrounding the treatment given his girlfriend, another World Bank employee, has damaged Mr. Wolfowitz's credibility and that of the institution he heads. Mr. Wolfowitz may gain approval to stay on, but continuing in his post would be a mistake if he truly believes in the bank's mission. Mr. Wolfowitz went to the World Bank after serving four years as the U.S. deputy secretary of defense, the number two in the Pentagon. While Mr. Wolfowitz was one of the intellectual architects of the Iraq war, he also served as ambassador...

.... there is also the hint of looking into "..the contract of the President". ... that clearly means that this investigation is expanding to include other hires by Wolfowitz, read , Robin Cleveland, Kevin Kellems, Carl Jackson, and Ana Palacio... But what does all this mean?... here is my take ... - The board has reasons to believe there is at least the possibility that there is a pattern of abuse by Wolfowitz. - A signal to Washington that, if the U.S. continues to support Wolfowitz, this investigation can drag on, and can devoir other former U.S. officials, i.e. Robin...

THE American legal system has rediscovered the virtue of one of the most ancient forms of punishment—public humiliation. Prostitutes' “Johns” can now have their names aired on television. Mail thieves can find themselves wearing a sandwichboard giving full details of their crime. And people who deface Nativity scenes can end up parading through town accompanied by a donkey. And neoconservatives? These too, it seems, are now being subjected to a grand exercise in public humiliation. Paul Wolfowitz is hanging on to his job at the World Bank by his fingernails. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, a Wolfowitz protégé, is facing prison; Douglas...

World Bank employees depict their attempt to bring down bank President Paul D. Wolfowitz in epic proportions, casting themselves as David to the president's more powerful Goliath. The staff member throwing the stones is Alison Cave, a little-known urban planner who chairs the bank's staff association. Cave has gained notoriety in the bank by taking the unprecedented step of seeking a bank president's resignation. Wolfie's Cave-Woman Nightmare

Those interested in the success of the World Bank should be under no illusion as to what is really motivating the staff revolt now playing out and what the consequences are likely to be. Many are opposed to Mr. Wolfowitz's anti-corruption emphasis, some on the good faith basis that he is placing disproportionate emphasis on the issue at the expense of other development priorities. Others, however, are opposed on the selfish basis that elevating anticorruption and governance considerations will result in lower lending levels and more difficult negotiations with borrowing governments. Still others may fear exposure of corruption among staff...

The future of Paul Wolfowitz, the embattled President of the World Bank, was in further jeopardy last night after it emerged that the White House was drawing up a list of candidates to succeed him. Most prominent on th list is Ashraf Ghani, the man credited with overhauling the economy of Afghanistan after September 11, The Times has learnt. Such an appointment would mark the first time a nonAmerican has held the position in the 60-year history of the global lender. Senior officials in the US Administration have noted that the White House is softening the tone of its support...

Phil de Vellis, the creator of the anti-Hillary Rodham Clinton ad that has been seen on YouTube.com more than 3 million times, is coming out with a new video mash-up. This time de Vellis' target is World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz, accused of improperly being involved in a promotion and pay raise for his girlfriend, who was an employee of the bank when Wolfowitz came on board. The clip, called "The Bank," is a parody of the TV show "The Office," said Ben Wikler, campaign director for Avaaz.org, which is sponsoring the video. The mash-up will be posted on the...

WHEN Paul Wolfowitz was named as president of the World Bank just two years ago, optimists compared him to another of the Pentagon's controversial sons, Robert McNamara. Perhaps, like the mastermind of the Vietnam war, Mr Wolfowitz would quit the rubble of a failed conflict to build a righteous empire of aid. But now Mr Wolfowitz is likened less to a benign emperor than to Caesar's suspect spouse. As recrimination swirls around him, squabbles over his future are dragging on. As The Economist went to press, the bank's executive directors—civil servants who oversee the bank on behalf of member governments—had...

Besieged by rising calls for his resignation, World Bank President Paul D. Wolfowitz met with the institution's senior management team behind closed doors yesterday to acknowledge problems with his leadership and offer to make significant front-office changes, several knowledgeable bank sources said. When one participant suggested that Wolfowitz's departure would resolve the problems, Wolfowitz replied that he had no plans to resign and that leaving "under the current circumstances" would not help the institution. Instead, he offered to change his management style and the "structure" of his office. Several officials interpreted that as willingness to remove or limit the authority...

One of Paul Wolfowitz’s two deputies on Wednesday urged the World Bank president to resign as the civil war inside the institution reached top management. Graeme Wheeler, managing director, made his call in front of all the bank’s top officials at an extraordinary session of their regular weekly meeting. It is understood that other top managers of vice-president rank also suggested Mr Wolfowitz should go. But Mr Wolfowitz – who has been under growing pressure following revelations that he was personally involved in securing a big pay rise as part of a secondment package to the US state department for...