Speaking of Wolfie and the World Bank, power-addict Bush turns to threats

as i posted earlier, george and co. put wolfie in the world bank for a reason and they aren't going to give up easily... but, while the white house continues to defend wolfie, the game is still afoot...

Wolfowitz has until late today to respond. His comments are to be forwarded with the report to the bank's executive board, which could begin deliberating as soon as tomorrow. The 24-member board could censure Wolfowitz, urge him to resign, declare a lack of confidence in his leadership or fire him.

i've seen leadership crises play out in many organizations, and of one thing you can be sure... there's hasn't been any real work done at the world bank for many weeks...

Uncertainty is paralyzing the bank, officials said, warning that the longer the leadership crisis continues, the greater the chance it will harm its coffers.

the response from the rest of the world reflects the seriousness with which they're taking the situation and the backlog of resentment they harbor over having wolfie installed as president in the first place...

European officials have suggested that, as long as he remains, they may withhold funds, perhaps funneling more aid through the European Union, which has historically been less focused than the World Bank on helping Africa.

and, needless to say, the u.s. prerogative to select the world bank president is in jeopardy...

Under an agreed-upon arrangement that has lasted since the inception of the bank six decades ago, the U.S. president selects the president of the World Bank while Europe decides who runs the bank's sister institution, the International Monetary Fund.

so, naturally bushco steps in with a veiled threat...

President Bush has said he wants Wolfowitz to stay. If the board overrides his wishes, it will jeopardize Europe's claims on the IMF, said a senior administration official.

which seemed to have the desired effect...

Leading governments of Europe, mounting a new campaign to push Paul D. Wolfowitz from his job as World Bank president, signaled Monday that they were willing to let the United States choose the bank’s next chief, but only if Mr. Wolfowitz stepped down soon, European officials said.

European officials had previously indicated that they wanted to end the tradition of the United States picking the World Bank leader. But now the officials are hoping to enlist American help in persuading Mr. Wolfowitz to resign voluntarily, rather than be rebuked or ousted.

bushco is so addicted to power it's pathetic... my theory is that a principal reason cheney has stuck around so long is because, if he was forced to go cold turkey, he'd be dead within weeks...

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