Wolfie Gone – Moon of Alabama

May 16, 2007

Wolfie Gone

Dropping off now before it really happens, but it looks like Wolfowitz [is] working on [a] resignation deal and will resign within hours.

His departure would include an acknowledgment from the bank that he doesn’t bear sole responsibility for the controversy surrounding a generous pay package for his girlfriend, the official said

They will pay him some hundred thousands out of the poverty relief box. I’d hoped he’d stay on. Totally exposing the World Bank as the fraud it is. Now Josh Bolton may talk over. That would not change much. Certainly not the language:

According to Mr Coll’s notes: "At the end of the conversation Mr Wolfowitz became increasingly agitated and said that he was ‘tired of people … attacking him’ and ‘you should get your friends to stop it’. Mr Wolfowitz said, ‘If they fuck me or Shaha, I have enough on them to fuck them too’," naming several senior bank staff he felt were vulnerable.
link

Well, Wolfie, it wasn’t enough you had to really fuck them. Now fuck off please …

Posted by b on May 16, 2007 at 20:20 UTC | Permalink

Comments

Just fire him and good riddance.

Posted by: beq | May 16 2007 23:44 utc | 1

He won’t get much money unless they are forced to fire him at which point he will have grounds for a lawsuit.

Posted by: Money | May 17 2007 0:56 utc | 2

People used to have the good grace to resign before they were tossed out.

Posted by: hopping madbunny | May 17 2007 1:12 utc | 3

Could he sue? And in what country?
These international institutions seems to exist in a realm of their own…

Posted by: a swedish kind of death | May 17 2007 1:13 utc | 4

burn him at the stake

Posted by: annie | May 17 2007 2:55 utc | 5

Apparently Not.

Posted by: Bea | May 17 2007 3:35 utc | 6

Hang in there Wolfie, that gnashing of teeth, screeching of fingernails, and barking of epithets does justice to your shrunken black mafia heart — and it’s music to my ears.
So keep it up little organ grinder boy.

Posted by: anna missed | May 17 2007 4:26 utc | 7

OOOHH, I love it when Wolfie talks dirty — especially right before he spits on his comb and rakes it across his greasy hair. I wonder if he keeps his socks on too?

Posted by: Elie | May 17 2007 4:32 utc | 8

I just hrd. on news that “Wolfie refuses to leave under this cloud”. Insists that bank ethics committee admit some responsibility. I wish they’d force him out honestly ‘cuz he’s made life hell for everyone, rather than for this – the only helpful thing he’s probably done for anyone in his life – even if his statement is clear – We are the Overlords. We are entitled to hundreds of thousands of bucks per year. Bow Down & Follow Orders.

Posted by: jj | May 17 2007 8:08 utc | 9

Any bets on where he will be hired next?

Posted by: ralphieboy | May 17 2007 12:14 utc | 10

Come on ralphieboy, you guys have been watching this tragicomedy show long enough to know they don’t lose their jobs as much as they move laterally within. It’s not [just]”follow the money” [anymore] but rather, “follow the money and the status of the job or social position” Hence all the strategic powerful job placements with people who have no experience other than the same ideology as the mayberry Machivellis…
“The Rothschilds, and that class of money-lenders of
whom they are the representatives and agents – men who
never think of lending a shilling to their next-door
neighbors, for purposes of honest industry, unless
upon the most ample security, and at the highest rate
of interest – stand ready, at all times, to lend money
in unlimited amounts to those robbers and murderers,
who call themselves governments, to be expended in
shooting down those who do not submit quietly to being
robbed and enslaved.”
~Lysander Spooner

Posted by: Uncle $cam | May 17 2007 12:40 utc | 11

My money’s on the Carlyle group, ralphieboy.

Posted by: Rowan | May 17 2007 15:53 utc | 12

My money’s on the Carlyle group, ralphieboy.

Posted by: Rowan | May 17 2007 15:57 utc | 13

In the ordinary way of things, Wolfie’s gf getting a job for what is a shadow foundation (paid by the US Gvmt) would not be a problem. (I don’t know the details, but her being paid officially by someone else but the WB knocks this argument away) Higher salary? Not anyone’s business except the Us Gvmt’s. This is all regular stuff. No one there would object, they’d be happy to get rid of her.
The problems lie deeper:
1) the WB has not being doing well, and Wolfie’s pious moves are not welcome; he is clueless, clumsy, understands nothing, and does not realize that one cannot rock the boat of of one of the ‘great’ international institutions. In short, he is an objectionable dope, an idiotic ***, and a threat to everyone’s jobs there.
If the US wants to keep him there, they can and will. The agreements about the WB and IMF won’t be jeopardised for that. However, it is a post where leadership and credibility and so on count for a lot so I reckon he will have to go. Trouble, strife, employee disgruntlement are absolute anathema for such institutions. Smooth bullshit is mandatory, without it all falls down.
(my reading from a distance)
And yes, international institutions operate in their own way. They are not subject to any national laws, just their own, – tomes of files in the human ressources departement, or back of the envelope rules – and unions are forbidden.

Posted by: Noirette | May 17 2007 20:39 utc | 14

some here despise the world bank and IMF and that may be justified. so to that end it would seem we should all hope that wolfowitz stays on and completely poisons the institution. the clever people at the WB who are able to convince small and poor nations to take money they can’t pay back to buy equipment they don’t need might just leave the bank and leave behind a bunch of incompetent bumbling boobs.
i guess you always have to be careful what you wish for.

Posted by: dan of steele | May 17 2007 21:13 utc | 15

when i think of wolfowitz i think of what bob dylan once sd
“what a drag it must be being you”
& i think of the sarkozy’s of this wrold who howl long & hard about the assastinat – well there is a whole elite who have been assisted from the womb to the grave – without one moment of merit being lived & we know this scoundrel will leave his post with his bags full of money
& i am reminded of that donkey, paul bremer in his brooks brother suit & timberland boot – a grotesque comedy of a man whose incompetence led to the direct deaths of many & whos incompetence rather than being a debit – is on the contrary – an asset
again & again, we are reminded of the essentially criminal nature of the cheney bush junta

Posted by: remembereringgiap | May 18 2007 1:23 utc | 16

the relevant remarks by prof chomsky from that interview i linked to yesterday

Shank: Is the foundation on which the current unitary executive stands beginning to erode? Given the corruption charges facing Paul Wolfowitz at the World Bank, the scandal surrounding Alberto Gonzales, the Justice Department’s firing of attorneys, and the indictment of Scooter Libby?
Chomsky: The struggle over the unitary executive and the elective dictatorship… that’s beginning to erode from internal corruption primarily, not because what it did was wrong. Yes, of course, some of things were wrong, like firing a prosecutor, but that is so minor compared to the array of crimes committed by the administration. It gains its significance because of the conflict over legislative and executive powers.
Take Wolfowitz. The charges against Wolfowitz are maybe correct but pretty minor compared to his record. Forget his involvement in the Iraq war, let’s put that aside, though it was surely significant. He was the ambassador to Indonesia under Reagan. He was one of the strongest supporters of Suharto, who was one of the worst monsters in the modern period, comparable to Saddam Hussein. When Wolfowitz was appointed to the World Bank, Indonesian human rights and democracy activists were bitterly critical because he never lifted his finger to help them when he was ambassador. In fact, he harmed them and they explained how he did it.
Here’s a man who strongly opposes democracy, who strongly opposes human rights. That’s not the myth. The myth is his great ideals. But in his actions, he supported a hideous dictator and in fact he supported extreme corruption. Transparency International ranked Suharto’s Indonesia as the world champion in corruption. This is the man he was defending while at the same time saying that he was going to the World Bank to do something about corruption.
His record with regard to democracies is also outlandish. You may recall in Turkey, to everyone’s surprise, the government went along with the will of 95% of the population and did not let U.S. troops use the country as a base for the war against Iraq. There was bitter condemnation of Turkey in the United States, from Colin Powell and others. But the most extreme was Wolfowitz. He berated the Turkish military for permitting this to happen. He said, “look, you have power, you can force the civilian government to do what we want them to do. The idea that they should listen to 95% of the population is outrageous.” Then he demanded that Turkey apologize to the United States and in fact say that it understands its job to help the United States. A couple of months later he was being hailed as the “idealist-in-chief” leading the crusade for democracy.
Shank: So why is he going down now for a salary?
Chomsky: He’s very much disliked in the Bank. Apparently he’s very authoritarian. So they picked an issue on which to expel him: a kind of corruption issue and a governance issue. And that’s okay. It’s good to see corrupt people go down. But those are not the issues. It’s just like in Iraq or Afghanistan.
Shank: Analysts in the media are questioning whether or not the Bank can redeem itself post-Wolfowitz. Can it redeem itself or is it done?
Chomsky: Redeem itself from what?

Posted by: b real | May 18 2007 2:51 utc | 17

Some music for all the dancing on graves we got going.
SKA CUBANO Live at the Nobel Peace Awards. I know, I know the audience is a little behind the curve — but they’ll catch on, cuz it gets better and better as it goes down.

Posted by: anna missed | May 18 2007 3:22 utc | 18

Finally: Wolfowitz to resign from World Bank

World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz said Thursday he will resign at the end of June, giving up his long fight to survive pressure for his ouster over the generous compensation he arranged for his girlfriend.
…
The White House said it would have a new candidate to announce soon, allowing for an orderly transition.
…
Among those mentioned as a possible replacement for Wolfowitz are former Deputy Secretary of State
Robert Zoellick, who was Bush’s former trade chief; Robert Kimmitt, the No. 2 at the
Treasury Department; Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson; former Republican Congressman Jim Leach and Sen. Richard Lugar (news, bio, voting record), R-Ind., and Stanley Fischer, who once worked at the International Monetary Fund and is now with the Bank of
Israel

No word on the compensation he will likely get.
No why is his neoconcubine still on the World Bank payroll?

Posted by: b | May 18 2007 5:43 utc | 19

German TV (ARD) this morning even mentioned Tony Blair as a replacement for Wolfowitz, maybe as a “nod” to “Europe”? How odd is that?

Posted by: ww | May 18 2007 8:15 utc | 20

“At Caramba!” cool anna missed #18
more

Posted by: annie | May 18 2007 17:16 utc | 21

annie, their CD by the same name is most wonderful, in an Ellington Jungle Band sort of way — all 14 tracts. My chase the blues away favorite these days.

Posted by: anna missed | May 18 2007 19:10 utc | 22

The naming of Blair as President of the World Bank tells us one important thing: the Bush administration was, and remains, determined to use the World Bank as a mechanism to fund the rebuilding of Iraq.
These people do not learn from their mistakes, and take resistance to their initiatives as a personal insult that must at all costs be avenged. Theirs are the smallest minds.

Posted by: alabama | May 18 2007 21:22 utc | 23

Thanks anna missed: Dancing makes you hungry…
La Cumbia del Mole

Posted by: beq | May 18 2007 21:28 utc | 24

I don’t believe Blair would take a job as WB president.
1. Bush would not nominate him
2. The board would fight him
3. $400k per is what he can make in the speaker circus in a month rather than as head of WB in a year.
3. is obviously the most important issue for Blair.

Posted by: b | May 18 2007 21:41 utc | 25

they are so hollow – these men – full of nothing – nut the ideas that have no more meaning – than the shit they share at their summits
they are so hollow – what is in them – intention & pulsion – are those of brutes
conrad was quite wrong geographically about the jungle. that jungle is the modern metropolis where men eat other men. where they mimic the monsterish malevolance of a michael milliken & are afraid of the minor meditations of a michael moore
they are so hool – that if you empty out paul wolfowitz – you’ll fin an abu gonzales & if you empty him out you will find a douglas feith or scooter libby & if you empty them out you will find the monica goodlings & the kyle sampsons who have never left the playschool of the gods
& their windbagweepers who seem to control all the air waves just poopoo & caca their way through words they clearly do not understand
the empire is held together by idiots or by men in comas

Posted by: remembereringgiap | May 18 2007 22:18 utc | 26

Jesus beq!
Lila Downs Blew me away!
XXXXX
p.s. ever get the feeling we’re living with over sized horse blinders on?

Posted by: anna missed | May 19 2007 3:15 utc | 27

Wolfowitz has final word on Iraq

WASHINGTON – The World Bank has appointed a new country manager for Iraq despite security and corruption concerns, according to a leaked document. The news emerged just days after outgoing World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz promised not make any major new appointments at the institution.
Anticipating that Iraq could eventually assume a more prominent role at the bank, its board has periodically issued official statements – a highly unusual measure – telling Wolfowitz that it wanted to be updated on any major plans for Iraq.
The Government Accountability Project (GAP), a Washington-based watchdog group, released an e-mail it says it obtained from sources inside the bank showing Daniela Gressani, vice president for the Middle East and North Africa region, making the announcement.
“I am pleased to announce the appointment of Mr Simon Stolp as country manager, Iraq,” said Gressani in her e-mail, a copy of which was seen by Inter Press Service (IPS).
A World Bank official in the Middle East department who wished to remain unidentified confirmed the news to IPS.
…
The new appointment, which had not been formally announced by the bank at this writing, appears to confirm what many analysts have long suspected about Wolfowitz’ relentless attempts to move the bank back into Iraq – and to boost US policy there – despite internal opposition and the continuing high security risk.
Although he has served for the past two years as president of the bank, Wolfowitz is best known in many circles for his role as a primary architect of the US invasion of the Arab country and as a staunch neo-conservative ideologue promoting US military interventionist policies, especially in the Middle East.
In February, IPS reported that Wolfowitz had been secretly negotiating a contract with a new resident director in Iraq, despite some objections from staff and the board of directors.
The same month, the bank, still under Wolfowitz’s management, also sought to quell news that a local staff member had been injured in Iraq, apparently for fear that the report might derail Wolfowitz’ bid to recruit a new country manager for Iraq.
Although Wolfowitz announced his resignation last Friday, the new development indicates that he is still attempting to steer the course of the institution.

Posted by: b real | May 22 2007 18:24 utc | 28

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