An update on Wolfowitz

Wolfowitz Draws Nearer to World Bank Post
Nominee Reassures Board Members

By Paul Blustein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, March 24, 2005; Page A02

Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz virtually sealed his election as World Bank president yesterday after meeting with members of the bank's board, who were impressed and reassured by his answers to their questions, according to bank sources.

In the process, though, Wolfowitz's march to the bank presidency has sparked jockeying among foreign officials over other jobs, with European officials pressing for a European to get the No. 2 post at the bank, according to several bank sources. Wolfowitz told European board members yesterday that he recognized the need for a top management position to go to someone from their countries, European sources said. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the discussions.

Well I am happy the Bretton Woods oligarchs are impressed with this guy... I am still not. He might have the right words, and maybe even the qualifications, and therefore he has the right to apply for the job (and he will probably get it now). But one cannot easily forget that he is the one that pushed the strongest for America going at it alone, with quite poor planning, in a campaign that - though it my have some collateral successes - was quite a failiure fed by hubris and over-zealousness. It is therefore hard for me to see Wolfowitz as a person that would truly serve "the World", as opposed to the US foreign policy goals and priorities. But one can never know in advance. I wonder...