Nice to know the Bushies have now turned the World Bank into their own personal cesspool. Paul Wolfowitz, the brainiac behind the Iraq war, has now made the World Bank his own personal love bank.
If some third world despot did this, Wolfowitz would orchestrate an invasion of his country. But when Wolfowitz grossly abuses his office in order to pay off his lover, it's a simple "mistake." The man should be run out of the bank on a rail. What happened to all those conservative concerns about organizations like the World Bank wasting our money? Our TAXPAYERS' money? Wolfowitz spent YOUR MONEY, folks, on his lover. And you can take that one to the bank.
World Bank President Paul D. Wolfowitz publicly apologized yesterday for the "mistake" of personally orchestrating a high-paying job and guaranteed promotions for a bank employee with whom he is romantically involved, as new details of his role in the arrangement emerged and staff members angrily demanded his resignation.
Wolfowitz attempted to address about 200 staffers gathered in the bank's central atrium but left after some began hissing, booing, and chanting "Resign. . . . Resign." He had approached the gathering after holding a news conference in which he said, "I made a mistake for which I am sorry."
Bank insiders confirmed reports from the bank's staff association that Wolfowitz directed personnel officials to give Shaha Riza, his longtime companion, an automatic "outstanding" rating and the highest possible pay raises during an indefinite posting at the State Department, as well as a promotion upon her return to the bank.
And to top it off, he lied about it:
Until yesterday, Wolfowitz and his aides had insisted that "all arrangements concerning Shaha Riza were made at the direction of the bank's board of directors." Bank sources said, however, that neither the board nor the ethics committee was aware of the terms of the final agreement.
Oh, and get this - Wolfowitz is worried that his using Bank money, YOUR money, to pay off his lover might detract from larger issues like his "anti-corruption" campaign. Now that's chutzpah:
Wolfowitz bemoaned that the controversy threatens to overshadow the official agenda of the bank's annual spring meeting opening here today -- including ratification of a global anti-corruption strategy and funding to reduce poverty in Africa.
