Opinion | Editorials
Wolfowitz's costly distraction
Paul Wolfowitz was one of the architects of the invasion of Iraq but he is the sole architect of his own demise at the World Bank.
- Gulf News
- Published: 00:00 April 17, 2007
Paul Wolfowitz was one of the architects of the invasion of Iraq but he is the sole architect of his own demise at the World Bank.
The world's most important aid agency has a lame duck president just as the man who nominated him for the post has been turned into a lame duck president. When Wolfowitz was appointed by President George W. Bush there were fears that the World Bank would be turned into a neocon lending house, an institution that gave money to its hard-up political allies rather than those countries that deserved aid on merit.
It's even worse than that now; Wolfowitz has turned the bank into an institution that has seen its credibility diminish on an overdraft of indulgence.
On the surface, the scandal is about a powerful man bestowing favours and preferential treatment, including a massive salary increase, to his girlfriend.
It could be argued that this abuse is nothing new in the world of the rich and powerful. But the bank has strict rules that are meant to prohibit those romantically involved from working together. Archaic, possibly, but necessary to avoid what we are now witnessing.
The affair, in every sense of the word, has cost the bank dearly. It tries to impose on its clients financial discipline. Wolfowitz's behaviour smacks of hypocrisy and makes the task of the bank, accepting responsibility for your financial affairs, harder to implement.
The scandal comes at a bad time for the bank as it tries to raise money from donor nations to lend to poorer ones.
Wolfowitz's ability to organise this fund-raising must be called into question if he is at the same time fighting to save his job.
It is the deserving countries desperately in need of funds that will suffer the most from his distraction.
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