Step down, Mr. Wolfowitz...
Yesterday, Paul Wolfowitz anounced he intended to stay on board as the World Bank president. But the chorus of op-eds calling for Wolfowitz to resign is growing. Today's New York Times ends its editorial calling for his resignation this way:
There is no way Mr. Wolfowitz can recover his credibility and continue to be effective at the bank.
Ouch! That stings... Mr. Wolfowitz shouldn't expect any invites to Friday night NYT poker games. I don't think any of these papers will have him on the invite list, either:
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The Los Angeles Times (April 16, 2007):
Personally approving a raise for his girlfriend, though it falls considerably short of looting the public treasury of a downtrodden country, undermines Wolfowitz's moral authority in cracking down on kleptocrats. Ironically, that is the one role Wolfowitz set as a priority for the president of the World Bank. If he can no longer perform it, then the bank needs someone who can.
Investor's Business Daily (April 13, 2007):
It doesn't really take an ethics committee to know that secretly giving a girlfriend a huge salary hike and an inflated promotion was a conflict of interest ... Wolfowitz should resign as soon as possible to right as much as he can of the mess he's made.
Financial Times (April 12, 2007):
The World Bank has moved from being a self-proclaimed exemplar of best practice in corporate governance to an example of shoddiness. As long as Mr Wolfowitz stays, this can be neither repaired nor forgotten, be it outside the Bank or inside it. In the interests of the Bank itself, he should resign. If he does not, the board must ask him to go.
Comments
What, you don't think a dude who gets his girlfriend a raise more than twice that allowed can legitmately tackle third world debt and economic parity between nations? Hippy.
Posted by: Derek Phillips | April 16, 2007 12:30 PM
Try reading the Wall Street Journal expose, Wolfowitz in the clear, his accusers in the dock
Posted by: dave | April 16, 2007 12:48 PM
Dave, I am assuming (and correct me if I am wrong) that you're referring to the OPINION piece called "Wolfowitz Files" on WSJ. You'll note it's not on the news pages.
Posted by: Derek Phillips | April 16, 2007 2:16 PM
That's right. You can read it here:
http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110009948
What do you think?
Posted by: dave | April 16, 2007 2:41 PM
It certainly raises some interesting questions. if the documents cited in the op-ed piece are accurately quoted, then I'd say Wolfowitz got sideblinded. But as the piece itself says, "Mr. Wolfowitz has apologized for any mistakes he's made, though we're not sure why." Why, indeed?
Posted by: Derek Phillips | April 16, 2007 3:21 PM