World Bank President: Washington Post speaks of months to wait.

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Washington Post speaks of months to wait. I've been scouring the net this morning to look for new elements on the deal to get Paul Wolfowitz out of the Bank. There are few to be had. A mention of the possible timetable in the Washington Post caught my eye, however. A senior White House aide told the Post that Wolfowitz might negotiate to stay at the Bank "for a few months" once the agreement is reached.

It's not clear what he will do there if so - his staff, board and others look very unlikely to be prepared to work with him, whatever is stated about shared responsibility in the settlement that is being hashed out behind closed doors.

The Post describes yesterday as "a day full of rumors, counter-rumors and closed-door meetings, the Wolfowitz saga turned into an only-in-Washington standoff". It continues "The Bush administration, navigating the currents of international diplomacy, remained sympathetic to Wolfowitz's plight but has appeared less willing by the day to spend political capital on him. Officials were eager to wrap up the unpleasantries and move on".

It then quotes a White House aide saying that whatever is decided it is not as if "Paul would resign eight minutes later". Well we have all seen what a thick skin the guy has.

But no paper this morning seems to remind readers of the rumoured 400,000 dollar bonus that Wolfowitz is said to be entitled to if he stays in office for two years from his start date. That would mean he needs to hold on until 2 June, just a couple of weeks away. As far as I know this rumour has not been denied since it first surfaced about two weeks ago.

Alex Wilks ~ May 17, 2007

Comments

$400,000 for 2 weeks of work..... that is pretty much what he needs to pay Robert Bennett.

Please document this, his employment contract is public, so of there is a bonus, it will be specified in there?

None ~ May 17, 2007, 11:59 AM

So he's going to help the poor and fight corruption by feathering his nest, right? Sounds like a misuse of Bank resources. Maybe it should be turned over to INT for an investigation of fraud. (OH WAIT, I FORGOT!) But, he obviously didn't do anything that would merit a bonus, except hang on like an lamphrey eel. So to claim a bonus would be fraud, right? But business as usual for HR. Why, it's almost like cheating on your travel statement of expenses. Perhaps during his end of days, he can be moved to that mysterious administrative unit where they place all the jetsom of the Bank and give him the title of advisor--to the President. He can advise by non-example. Maybe he should become an executive coach! Maybe he is already. He should write a book, "Stonewalling for the Poor," and then go on Oprah or G. Gordon Liddy's show.

And finally, why does anyone have to let him save face? Saving face is just a fancy way of saying you don't make people accountable.

nirk ~ May 17, 2007, 12:11 PM

Notice that the PW counter-attack has started:

Complaints about a ED made public by somebody, and now, opening up more 'dirt' files on the EDs until they cave....

The good old, "If they F*** with me.. I will F*** with them...."

Are you sure you are not auditioning for the Sopranos?

There is a real problem with this approach: The EDs are not much more than civil servants, they respond to their masters, typically a Deputy Minister or a Deputy Secretary in their respective Ministries.

So attacks on them only gets them mad, and they go screaming back home at their bosses to take a stronger line...

So go and attack.... PW.. the more you fight, the worst you are going to be.

Nin ~ May 17, 2007, 12:15 PM

I just looked up the employment contract and it seems this is a spurious rumour. PW is already entitled to the roughly $400,000 termination allowance. Specifically the contract reads:

"At the end of your term, or if your service is terminated by the Executive Directors, or if you resign or die in Bank service having served for at least one year under this agreement, The Bank will pay a termination allowance. The termination allowance will be an amount equal in amount to your salary for one year, minus the amount of any income you receive from regular and continuous employment of not less than six months' duration during the year following the end of your service."

There is no bonus mentioned in the contract.

pchowla ~ May 17, 2007, 12:17 PM

Yes, Paul. How many refugees starving in Darfur, or Inonesian sex workers, or Indian rag-picking children could $400,000 feed. Using that money to pay your lawyer is obscene. Shy not use all the money you got in kickbacks from Haliburton or other DOD contractors.

It makes one want to puke.

son of nirk ~ May 17, 2007, 12:17 PM

Is the termination allowance paid if he is terminated for cause?

In particular, if it was found that he is being terminated for failure to attend to carry out his contractual duties?

Like, not showing up for work, being at Attorney's Office when he is suppose to be working (without taking unpaid leave), etc.?

Or any of the other derelictions of duty cited in the ad hoc group report?

None ~ May 17, 2007, 12:29 PM

There is a rumor that a "side letter" to the contract exists that awards PW a bonus at his two-year anniversary -- June 1, 2007. The existence of the side letter can't be confirmed so far, and the amount of the rumored bonus is unknown.

Bea Edwards ~ May 17, 2007, 12:49 PM

Then one of the principle demands of the NGOs like GAP should immediately be to demand that such a 'side letter' if it exist, be made public or that the Board affirmatively deny its existence.

None ~ May 17, 2007, 12:52 PM

I think the board should be very careful with its decision. If it takes the bait being offered to it then it is as unethical as Wolfowitz. How can they water down their determination after so much deliberation. Wolfowitz is working hard at making them look like fools and will succeed if they agree to these negotiations.

Need a good boss ~ May 17, 2007, 01:33 PM

There are few things as pathetic as a dead man walking believing he has life in him. Paul is done, finished, but he and his handlers appear to be the last to appreciate this. Nothing in the world will save him, not even the immediate destruction of the Bank. He will go to his grave as known deceiver and an utter narcissus .

Emmerno Lupi ~ May 17, 2007, 03:19 PM

The reality is there are far more compelling considerations than pleasing the US.

With the publication of the Report and its supporting documents, there is virtually no way the Board can give PW a clean bill of health on corruption charges without being totally discredited.

Once published, it cannot be called back.

The EDs are in a similar situation where they cannot refuse to endorse the Report's findings and conclusions.

The reality is that the facts are now in every capital's Finance and Foreign Ministry, and nothing can call them back.

It is remarkable for PW to not recognize that what he is demanding, in effect, is for the World Bank Group to self-destruct if they 'cleared' him.

If the United States want to disgrace themselves by continuing to back him, fine. That will almost inevitably lead to a revolt over the current arrangement of allowing the US to select the President.

It is about time the US learn that there are some other uncompromising and unmoving forces in the world beside Cheney and Bush.

None ~ May 17, 2007, 03:45 PM

To reflect what "None" has just posted, the following column written by Susan Whalen in www.BayouBuzz.Com draws some analogies between Wolfie and Richard Nixon plus the extrapolation of "the sanctity of the moral law" as defined by Hans Morgenthau:
http://www.bayoubuzz.com/News/US/Politics/World_Bank_Paul_Wolfowitz_Must_Go__3748.asp

#1.The White House asks: Should not Wolfowitz's confession, or his claim to have made a mistake, exonerate him?
No. Wolfowitz admitted overcompensating Riza only after realizing the Board had acquired evidence against him, was going to proceed with investigating him, and his other arguments were failing. So Wolfowitz's "confession" is not worth much.

#2.As for Wolfowitz's contention that he's learned his lesson and won't do it again, so what? "[I]t is nowhere written that a man is entitled to his first murder, his first fraud, or his first lie," Morgenthau observed.

#3.Wolfowitz himself compartmentalized his conduct by distinguishing between "old jobs" like being a teacher or the Iraq War's architect,and "new jobs" like being Bank president. But a teacher "is foremost the guardian and augmentor of a permanent treasure,"

#4.As for Bennett and the White House's contention that the World Bank "acted," as Morgenthau observed of Van Doren, "with undue haste" in investigating Wolfowitz, this argument is "at odds with the obvious facts." Although the Bank initially found no wrongdoing, it looked again, and found evidence that Wolfowitz not only acted wrongfully, but hid his wrongdoing and made misleading statements about it—which is likely why they mistakenly exonerated him the first time.

She concludes with:
"Nixon failed to follow the moral law, but he understood and appreciated it. In the end, he redeemed himself in the eyes of many.
The Bank should do what America would have done in 1974, had Nixon not resigned. It should fire Wolfowitz, and let the chips fall where they may."

Yul ~ May 17, 2007, 04:13 PM

WHAT IS IT GOING TO TAKE TO MAKE HIM GOOOOOOOO, already? and I second "None's" points above.

This is Outrageous ~ May 17, 2007, 04:15 PM

Is it not a fact that Lampreywitz is a dual US-Israeli citizen?

So maybe, just for once, it's time for Israel to solve the U.S.'s problem, and invite him home, along wih his coterie of unindicted co-conspirators?

How about, Minister for Occupied Territories, charged with ensuring that the Hamas-Fatah killing never ends?

But there are no doubt many other jobs that his background qualifies him for....and I'm sure he'll welcome other suggestions offered by this supportive website.

The Mahdi ~ May 17, 2007, 06:03 PM

Mahdi: Your take on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict fails to mention that both sides commit horrific acts, and hate begets hate. There is plenty of blame to go around and Hamas has killed its share of innocents.

As for the post that Wolfowitz is "feathering his own nest," kindly provide some evidence to support this conjecture.

DC Worker ~ May 17, 2007, 07:04 PM

DC Worker says: "As for the post that Wolfowitz is "feathering his own nest," kindly provide some evidence to support this conjecture."

I do not understand what it is this refers to, so if addressed to anything I have said above, please explain or correct.

Thanks,
Mahdi

The Mahdi ~ May 17, 2007, 07:19 PM

Mahdi: It addresses a post well before yours.

DC Worker ~ May 17, 2007, 07:24 PM

Alea jacta est!
(the die is cast, the Rubicon is crossed and the times are more uncertain)

Wolfowitz will leave under a cloud even if they claim he is leaving floating on that cloud.

But the clouds have silver linings!

The Bush administration cannot be allowed to nominate a new WB president.
They are a minority, they have also demonstrated they are incompetent and corrupt.

The selection of the new WB President requires a more open and transparent process.
The Board and Management of the WB must make a thorough investigation of the Wolfowitz fiasco before a new president is chosen.

The community of those who care about world development is now mobilized.

We all expect an open process, public opinion must be informed and mobilized to demand greater transparency.

Worldbankpresident.org now has great prominence, but with that prominence comes new responsibility.

Responsible Opinion ~ May 17, 2007, 09:02 PM

DC Worker: "Your take on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict fails to mention that both sides commit horrific acts . . ." Hardly proportional given Israel's nuclear capability and pre-emptive domestic military policy against its neighbours. The figures are entirely lop-sided in terms of Israel's wanton aggression and superior military power -- not even the South Africans were as cruel to the black population under their thumbs during apartheid -- and the blame you want to subscribe equally is not borne out by actual death figures: http://www.btselem.org/English/Statistics/Casualties.asp (Scroll down for the non-included deaths.)

Mahdi is correct. Amero-Israeli citizen and eminence grise Wolfowitz' brand of strategic acumen and sophistry would be a brilliant diplomatic foil to Avigdor Lieberman and his edict to dump all Arabs into the sea. Wolfowitz could cite his warm interaction with, and knowledge, of Arabs. And he's just such a globally informed guy. He could be the Comeback Kid of the ME.

Torno ~ May 17, 2007, 10:18 PM

DC Worker, you seem to not be aware of who PW is and why he would, within in his circle, be a perfect Likud Party Minister of the Occupied Territories.

The attached link to a March 2005 Times of London article does a pretty good summary:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/article432446.ece

I quote from it:

"...In 1992 he wrote a blueprint to 'set the nation’s direction for the next century' that was so controversial that Dick Cheney, then defence secretary under President George Bush Sr, was ordered to rewrite it. However, it still informs the present administration’s policy. Entitled Defence Planning Guidance, it charged the Pentagon with establishing and protecting 'a new order' under supreme American authority."

"The US, Wolfowitz prescribed, should be sure of 'deterring potential competitors from even aspiring to a larger regional or global role', including Japan and Germany. He envisaged the use of nuclear, biological and chemical weaponry pre-emptively, 'even in conflicts that do not directly engage US interests'."

It seems to me that a man who advocates pre-emptive use of weapons of mass destruction, would love to be in charge of ensuring that the Palestinian peoples destroy each other to the maximum extent feasible.

The Mahdi ~ May 17, 2007, 10:42 PM

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

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