World Bank President: Voices of World Bank women.

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Voices of World Bank women. A friend inside the bank has just emailed me the following comments from two women staff members posted on a bank internal bulletin board earlier today.

The first one comes from someone calling herself: "Angry Muslim Woman"

Posted By Angry Muslim Woman Wed, May 16, 2007, 12:25

I do not know Riza except through her personal statement and the transcript from the Ad Hoc Committee Report which show her to be completely solipsistic. As Muslim woman I find it offensive she keeps using Islam as defense for her sense of entitlement. But I find it even more offensive that Wolfowitz and his supporters are portraying her as an angry MUSLIM Woman---this is disgusting. If anything, this type of comments reflects very badly on Wolfowtiz, his character, his judgment and his ability to lead. It is very disturbing to see that he is willing to sacrifice anyone and everyone to hold on to power. He is no leader and should never have been in position to be one.

another one, few minutes later, comes from "An Asian Woman"

Posted By To Angry Muslim Woman Wed, May 16, 2007, 12:29

Bravo! As an Asian Woman I have been feeling extremely disgusted by Riza's continuous whining amount her religon and her race. I am glad you have spoken out. Solipsistic is definitely the word for her!!!!!!!!

If you are a woman working in the bank, here is a chance for you to tell us what do you think about Ms. Riza and her argument that she was discriminated against because she was a Muslim, an Arab, and a Woman?

A Washington source ~ May 16, 2007

Comments

May be Wolfie or Shaha should read the following:
http://www.newenglishreview.org/blog_direct_link.cfm?blog_id=7803
"It was in Jakarta that weapons-systems analyst Paul Wolfowitz was first exposed to what he took to be a typical Islamic country. It was there, as the American ambassador, with great power, that he met those smiling, friendly, plausible, most eager-to-please local figures. And from the Embassy, he made trips out to see the Good Works being accomplished with American aid money. All this helped show him what Islam was all about. Then his close friendship with Shaha Riza, and his meetings with such typical representatives of Iraq as Ahmad Chalabi, followed up on those lessons subsequently."
........................................................................................................................
"Yes, travel -- the kind of travel that Kissinger, or Albright, or Rice, or Brzezinski, or Wolfowitz, or a thousand others, go on. The kind of experience one picks up as a cosseted ambassador in a country whose citizens and society are both famous for a smiles-and-wiles impossible-to-read façade. Yet this is what gave Wolfowitz the impression that he "knew" something about Islam."

Yul ~ May 16, 2007, 05:49 PM

Lucianne reporting that Wolf preparing to resign this afternoon, a report off ABC news:

http://www.lucianne.com/

none ~ May 16, 2007, 06:22 PM

http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/05/wolfowitz_to_re.html

For the story on the ABC Blotter blog.

Peter Quennell ~ May 16, 2007, 06:29 PM

I am a Muslim woman who works at the World Bank. I know Shaha Riza. Shaha may be a very intelligent woman, but she is far from wise, nor is she representative either of the vast majority of Arab Muslim woman, or even of the minority who work hard to improve their lot. Her greatest fault is her insistence that she knows best for the rest of us; it is offensive, but it is also counter-productive. What woman suffer from in the region is not an affliction of religion; it is one of politics, poverty and limited access to empowering resouces and services. If she is so proud of her Muslim heritage and identity, then she should stop slinging it around as though it were mud.

What this entire sordid affair has brought to the fore is that the squeaky wheel does get the oil. In other words, if you are loud, pretentious and a self-promoter, and you manage to know the right people, you can get ahead - even at the World Bank. The lesson for all is that the internal human resouce infrastructure of the Bank needs a major overhaul so that the vetting process can indeed ensure that merit is what counts.

The fact that she was touted by the Admnistration (Wolfowtiz when at DOD, and Liz Cheney at State) for being "the expert on the region" whose expertise was vital is insidious, not to mention ridiclous. If this is the measure of expertise we are relying on, no wonder we are in such trouble over there!

Someone in DC ~ May 16, 2007, 10:46 PM

Went to the WB site to see if there's any news - here's the news:

How Egg Project Hatched
Local Industry in Tanzania

The old grey men of the Kremlin could not have done better at tryng to divert attention!

none ~ May 16, 2007, 10:57 PM

A nasty fact of live in the UN agencies is that there are career staff (who are usually very good and work long years in tough conditions at the lower levels) and then there are rather a lot of political appointees (who flash in and out at top levels, and wreck most of the havoc and all of the resentment).

This is also the case in the US federal bureaucracy. Did you know? Some 6400 political posts! Same problems.

Same in a few other governments. But most wisely limit the political appointee posts. Much less havoc and less resentment.

So if there was just ONE rule of thumb, it maybe should be: reduce the political posts to an absolute bare minimum.

(On Raza: being the one and only moslem neo-con - a bizarre notion if ever there was one - probably gave her quite an edge.)

Peter Quennell ~ May 16, 2007, 11:03 PM

"Keep track of the rumored candidates, power plays and buzz."
The Washington Post

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