(Updates at bottom of article)
Today was not a good day for World Bank Chief Paul “the ware” Wolfowitz. His allies are walking away from him as if he was a dead man walking, and his enemies are salivating at his demise.
As you may have read, we’ve been keeping a close eye on this story. If your new to Soapblox, you can catch our early commentaries here.
Today however, the story has finally broken wide open.
First off, as reported today by the Wall Street Journal, of one of his top aides, Kevin Kellems, has resigned, citing the scandal as a interfering with his ability to work. Now Kellems is no ordinary top aide. He’s been linked to Wolfowitz since his days at the Defense Department, so in other words, his career and fate are linked to Wolfowitz as well. His departure is a signal that even his closest allies see the scandalized idea man as a lost cause.
Salon.com sees it as an even bigger symbol. The demise of the Neo-Conservative (neo-cons) movement.
Listen to this quote on the end result of their movement:
Now their worldview is in tatters. Their war is an unmitigated disaster. Their president is a cancer on the Republican Party. They are under assault from all sides. And they are beginning, as Kevin Kellems’ resignation proves, to drop like flies. No smear campaigns necessary. Just the truth.
To make matters worse, the leadership of many European nations are stepping up their attacks on the wolf-o-war-meister. They’ve even offered a plea-bargain to President Bush regarding Wolfowitz, one he will find hard to refuse: Dump the wolf and we’ll let you pick the next leader of the World Bank. Europe had been talking about changing this tradition to include a more balanced approach to finding a leader. Allowing Bush to pick the next leader would allow Bush to save some face and still have enormous influence over the third world nations, which he’s been itching to get his free trade itching hands all over.
Diplomacy requires compromise and sacrifice. Something a bully like Bush doesn’t really understand. He hates being told what to do, as if his will alone can decide what’s best for the world. Sound familiar? Bush is really better off taking the deal, all he has to do is take this punch and deal with it.
Wow, this administration is being defeated on so many fronts that I’m having a really hard time keeping up with all of them.
I can’t wait to see what’s next.
UPDATE: The White House weighs in. Their hinting at a possible deal where Wolfowitz stands down on his own accord. The Wolfmeister may be suddenly feeling the need to explore options in the private sector very soon.
UPDATE 2:
Evidence has emerged today that show Wolfowitz threatening other World Bank officials if they disclosed the details of his arrangement. Wolfowitz “tirade of four letter words” has been compared to the ramblings of a Sopranos family associate, rather than that of a World Bank president and former Deputy Defense Secretary:
“If they f@(# with me or Shaha, I have enough on them to f@(# them too.”
Isn’t it amazing that this guy can be likened to a mafioso thug and somehow it works? He really does sound like a low-level mob affiliate, rambling on about power and force. I just hope he only talks like a thug, and hasn’t had anybody whacked. There has been some new startling stuff coming out of Washington that is pointing in some very bad directions. More on that later.
So to put this in perspective: One of the chief engineers of current U.S. foreign policy, including the Iraq War, close friend and associate of the Vice-President as well as the Pres himself, as well as important member of the Project for a New American Century (which ties him to a host of other neo-cons), gave his girlfriend a job at the World Bank and an unauthorized raise that could feed several poor families for a year. All while he was supposedly fighting poverty in the third world I might add.
It is this sort of highly unethical and often illegal activity that is popping up all over the Bush administration. They don’t care about anybody but themselves and they’ve gotten enormously rich while doing it. Sounds like a mob-boss to me, doesn’t it?
But that gives them too much credit. These silver-spoon fed, rich boy preps who never saw a day of combat, or hard work, in their pampered little lives are sending our soldiers off to die for a cause that in the end, only serves to line their own already full pockets with cash.
The World Bank is a quiet enormously powerful institution that has slowly been extracting all the power of the third world and placing it into the hands of the multi-national corporations. It is enormously damaging to the autonomy of these small nations, yet it’s impact is slow and takes years to be felt. The damage Wolfie has done in economic policy may not be felt for decades, but he’s so arrogant, he took a job nobody pays attention to and turned it into an international rallying cry for an end to U.S. dominance in the world.
Textbook Bush Administration. I fear that we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg. I just hope the S.S. United States of America isn’t headed for that iceberg.
UPDATE3: It’s over. Wolfowitz resigns, bringing the scandal to a close. Bush plans to replace him quickly. You bet he does, he wants to sweep this scandal under the rug.
Add one more victim to the Bush Administration’s most corrupt list of the fallen.
UPDATE 4: Apparently Wolfowitze recieved a remarkable golden parachute when he left the World Bank. Get this, despite his poor performance as World Bank president, he will still recieve a $300,000 pay off. Some say, this pay off was really the motivation for Wolfowitz sticking around the past week, since his ability to lead was effectively crippled.
Can you believe this? The man’s supposed to be fighting poverty and he’s really more concerned with getting an extra $300,000 for his already full bank account. Then he leaves the bank as an undermined institution that will spend years regaining its credibility.
Well in my eyes the World Bank is all about controling Latin America and the third world, but we’ll get into that another time. At least today, the Ware Wolf is a disgraced politician.