[stop-imf] Wolfowitz: Action steps and News/Comments

[robert weissman]

1. Action Steps on Wolfowitz
2. Bloomberg: Wolfowitz Nominated to Be Next World Bank President
3. AP: World reacts to Wolfowitz bank nomination
4. Financial Times: Bush picks Wolfowitz to head World Bank
5. New York Times: Bush Chooses a Top Pentagon Aide to Head the World Bank
6. US's Wolfowitz sees 'noble mission' at World Bank
7. IMF chief says Wolfowitz has impressive record
8. 50 Years is Enough: WOLFOWITZ TO WORLD BANK?! =96 CRITICS AMAZED
     Maybe Worst Possible Choice; Global Opposition to Selection
     =93The Ball is in the Europeans=92 Court=94
9. IPA: Paul Wolfowitz Nominated as President of the World Bank
10. MGJ: Shock and Awe at Wolfowitz nomination

1. Action Steps on Wolfowitz

The message below comes from Alex Wilks of Eurodad and
worldbankpresident.org. We hope that those in Europe, Japan, Canada,
Australia/NZ, etc who are reading this message will take immediate
action, since it is those countries that have the best chance of
changing this nomination. But in the Global South, it would be very good
to get Finance Ministers riled up, letting them know that citizens know
what's going on. In the U.S., it probably won't do much good to contact
Treasury Secretary Snow, since he issues an extravagant statement
praising Wolfowitz today. But do contact your members of Congress and
urge them to make their displeasure known.

50 Years Is Enough Network

     Wolfowitz HAS BEEN nominated as World Bank president.

     His CV/resume was officially circulated to the Bank's board by the US
     administration yesterday. The media, we and officials are taking it
     seriously this time.

     Tell everyone you know as soon as possible. You, and they, can:
     - issue short press statements;
     - appeal to parliamentarians to call finance ministers;
     - call finance ministers yourself;
     - encourage people in the peace, human rights and other movements
to join
     in.

     Key suggested messages:
     - Wolfowitz key architect of Iraq war and US security policy;
     - not consensual candidate
     - very flawed process, and the Europeans and other governments on
the board
     of the Bank should block Wolfowitz's appointment. (as the US did
with Caio
     Koch-Weser for the IMF job in 2000).

     We understand that urgent talks are underway between key European
capitals,
     and presumably elsewhere.

     It is possible that the Bank's board has been given an extremely short
     deadline to respond. Perhaps 24 hours. So, to influence the process
- or at
     the least to influence public opinion about the Bank TAKE ACTION TODAY=
.

     Please keep us informed on what you are doing. Send to
     contact@worldbankpresident.org

     See www.worldbankpresident.org for frequent updates on the situation.



Wolfowitz Nominated to Be Next World Bank President (Update5)

March 16 (Bloomberg) -- Paul D. Wolfowitz, the U.S. Deputy Secretary of
Defense and an architect of the Iraq War, is President George W. Bush's
nominee to head the World Bank.

Wolfowitz would replace James Wolfensohn, 71, who is retiring when his
five-year term ends May 31. The nomination, which by tradition is made
by the U.S., must be approved by the World Bank's 184 member countries.

At the Pentagon, Wolfowitz, 61, was a strong advocate of the Iraq war,
calling for toppling Saddam Hussein and helping the administration craft
its rationale for the invasion in the face of strong opposition from
Spain, France and Germany. At a White House news conference today, Bush
called Wolfowitz a proven leader and a ``skilled diplomat.''

``The truth of the matter is that Paul Wolfowitz is better qualified to
be at the World Bank than many other possible candidates,'' said Edwin
Truman, former assistant secretary for international affairs at the U.S.
Treasury under President Bill Clinton. ``On the other hand, he comes
with a lot of baggage.''

At the World Bank, the largest financier of development projects, Bush
will use Wolfowitz to scale back Wolfensohn's projects, said Allan
Meltzer, who chaired a congressional panel on the World Bank in 2000.
That may include an overhaul of the bank's $20 billion annual lending
operation and changes to more effectively manage the lender's more than
10,000 employees scattered in 109 nations, he said.

Bush ``is spreading his neoconservative friends away from the
administration toward international institutions,'' said Jonathan Eyal,
director of studies at the Royal United Services Institute in London, a
military think tank.

Muted Enthusiasm

European members of the World Bank hold a combined 30 percent voting
stake in the institution.

``The storm of enthusiasm in old Europe is muted,'' German Development
Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zuel said.

France's Foreign Minister Michel Barnier said his country will look at
Wolfowitz's nomination ``and look equally at other candidates.''

Wolfowitz's nomination is the second time the U.S. turned to the
Pentagon to seek a candidate for the World Bank. Former Defense
Secretary Robert McNamara headed the institution from 1968 to 1981.

The parallels with ``McNamara -- the brilliant Vietnam era Secretary of
Defense turned global development statesman -- are difficult to
escape,'' said Ken Rogoff, a former International Monetary Fund chief
economist. Wolfowitz has ``a very controversial international image.''

Wolfowitz would the 10th president since the World Bank was founded
after World War II. The U.S. nominee for the position has never been
rejected.

A `Bolshevik of Democracy'

``The French will accept the candidacy of Wolfowitz without
enthusiasm,'' said Dominique Moisi, deputy director of the French
Institute for International Relations in Paris. ``They will ask
something in return,'' such as the appointment of Pascal Lamy at the
head of the World trade Organization.

``He won't necessarily be well understood in what used to be called
third world countries'' because he's seen as ``a western ideologist, a
bit of a Bolshevik of democracy,'' Moisi said.

Wolfowitz is ``one who makes no bones about trying to impose U.S.
foreign policy on countries around the world,'' said Soren Ambrose, a
policy analyst at Washington-based 50 Years is Enough, which seeks to
overhaul World Bank policies. ``It's what the World Bank has been doing
for 25 years and now we'll have a bank that acknowledges that.''

The World Bank's board has received Wolfowitz's nomination and is ``in
the process of consultations with the member countries they represent,''
the bank said in a statement.

A Welcome Change

Others welcomed the change.

``He's a strong-minded man,'' said Meltzer, who is now a Carnegie Mellon
economics professor. Unlike Wolfensohn, ``Paul Wolfowitz is the kind of
person who is likely to look to have a focus.''

Other candidates for the World Bank position included former
Hewlett-Packard Co. Chief Executive Officer Carly Fiorina and Bush
administration AIDS policy chief Randall Tobias.

In an interview today in Washington, Wolfensohn called Wolfowitz
``someone of high intellect, broad experience in and out of government
and he has many of the qualifications needed to lead the bank.''

Political Tact

Prior to the Iraq war, Wolfowitz said Iraq's oil reserves ``are the
property of the Iraqi people and critical for their post-Saddam
reconstruction and rehabilitation,'' suggesting the country could repay
the cost of the invasion from oil revenue.

In June, he was forced to apologize after saying journalists in Baghdad
published rumors because they were afraid to travel in the country.

He pushed a hard-line policy against Iraqi aggression in Kuwait during
the Gulf War, then played a negotiating role after its end, seeking to
strengthen Saudi Arabia's military capabilities and reduce arms sales to
the region.

A critic of Clinton's approach toward China and Russia, Wolfowitz urged
tougher stances on those countries' missile transfers to Iran.

``There's no question about his intellect. There's a big question about
his political tact,'' said Eyal. ``Although the appointment will clearly
stick in the gullets of many European governments, especially the French
and Germans, they will not come into the open.''

World Bank Focus

The nominations of Wolfowitz to the World Bank today and John Bolton
last week as U.S. representative to the United Nations suggests Bush
``is throwing down the gauntlet and telling Europeans `we'll do anything
we want,''' Ambrose said.

Responding to a report in the Financial Times earlier this month that
Wolfowitz was a candidate for the World Bank, a Defense Department
spokesman said he would remain at the Pentagon. ``Secretary Wolfowitz
has been asked to stay on in an extremely important job, one that he
likes doing very much,'' Defense Department spokesman Larry DiRita said
March 1.

Under Wolfowitz, the Bush administration may now try to narrow the focus
of the World Bank, returning the international lending institution to
its roots of primarily financing large infrastructure projects and
limiting the practice of handing out zero-interest loans, Meltzer said.

The lender broadened its scope under Wolfensohn, who sought a more
``humanizing'' role for the bank, according to Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel
Prize-winning economics professor at Columbia University in New York and
a former chief economist of the World Bank.

Bush Legacy

Since taking over as World Bank president in 1995, Wolfensohn cut by 40
percent financing for dams, bridges and infrastructure projects, and
shifted that money to programs promoting climate change and development.

``What the Bank needs most now is a president willing to set priorities
and make choices, rather than rolling from one development fad to
another,'' said Rogoff, now a professor at Harvard University. He will
have strong support from Bush, ``who wants very much to leave a legacy
of having helped pull the Third World out of poverty.''

Bush named Wolfowitz as deputy to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in
February 2001. Then dean of Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced
International Studies, Wolfowitz was a veteran of both the State and
Defense Departments.

He served as undersecretary of policy for Vice President Dick Cheney
when Cheney headed the Pentagon during the administration of President
George H.W. Bush, the current president's father.

 >From 1986 to 1989, Wolfowitz was the U.S. ambassador to Indonesia, and
assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs from
1982 to 1986. He worked on arms control and disarmament issues in
federal agencies in the 1970s.

 >From 1995 to 2001, Wolfowitz was a director of toymaker Hasbro Inc. He
received a master's degree in administration and a doctorate in
political science and economics from the University of Chicago.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Simon Kennedy in Washington at skennedy4@bloomberg.net
Julie Ziegler in Washington at jziegler@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Joe Winski in Washington at jwinski@Bloomberg.net
Last Updated: March 16, 2005 13:23 EST


3. AP: World reacts to Wolfowitz bank nomination

Wednesday, March 16, 2005 =B7 Last updated 1:38 p.m. PT

World reacts to Wolfowitz bank nomination

By JOCELYN GECKER
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
  =09photo
  =09Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, President Bush's choice for
World Bank President, listens as Treasury Secretary John Snow, not
pictured, speaks during a press availability at the Treasury Department
Wednesday, March 16, 2005 in Washington. Bush on Wednesday selected
Wolfowitz, a key architect of the Iraq war whose hard-line foreign
policy stance as deputy defense secretary has stirred criticism, to take
over as chief of the World Bank. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

PARIS -- Around the world, the notion of U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary
Paul Wolfowitz leading the World Bank met with reactions ranging from
official reserve to skepticism and outright denunciation.

Wolfowitz, nominated Wednesday by President Bush, is widely seen as a
key instigator in the U.S. push to topple Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
International organizations worried about the nominee's hawkish politics
and questioned whether he is right for the job.

Bush, who has sought to mend ties with European allies that opposed the
Iraq war, called French President Jacques Chirac to tell him the news.

Chirac, one of the staunchest critics of the war, "took note of this
candidacy," his office said, adding that "France would examine it in the
spirit of friendship between France and United States and with an eye on
the capital mission of the World Bank to the service of development."

One of those most vocally opposed to the idea was U.N. Secretary-General
Kofi Annan's top poverty adviser.

"It's time for other candidates to come forward that have experience in
development," Professor Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Earth Institute
at Columbia University and an Annan adviser, said in a speech to the
U.N. Economic and Social Council.

"This is a position on which hundreds of millions of people depend for
their lives," he said. "Let's have a proper leadership of
professionalism." The United Nations had no comment.

Development and anti-poverty groups joined the chorus of criticism.

"As well as lacking any relevant experience, he is a deeply divisive
figure who is unlikely to move the bank toward a more pro-poor agenda,"
said Patrick Watt, policy officer at British charity Action Aid.

Dave Timms, spokesman for London-based World Development Network, called
it a "terrifying appointment" that highlighted a lack of democracy in
major lending institutions. A European traditionally heads the
International Monetary fund, while an American takes the helm at the
World Bank.

"You can't have a situation where rich countries lecture developing
countries about democracy and then aren't prepared to exercise democracy
in this kind of appointment."

Sweden's minister of International Development Cooperation Carin
Jaemtin, said she was "very skeptical" with the choice, telling Swedish
news agency TT, she had hoped for a candidate who would carry out the
policies of outgoing bank president James Wolfensohn.

Wolfowitz, 61, was among the most forceful of those in the Bush
administration in arguing that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction,
and he had predicted that Americans would be welcomed as liberators
rather than occupiers once they toppled Saddam's government.

Wolfowitz' reputation as a hard-liner made it difficult to cheer his
nomination to head the World Bank, said Nigerian newspaper columnist
Pini Jason. He said Wolfowitz's selection could be a "bad omen" for the
Third World.

"It is very likely that George Bush will want to link World Bank
policies to his own vision of democratizing the world: Democracy
according to the White House," said Jason, who writes for The Vanguard
newspaper.

4. Financial Times:
Bush picks Wolfowitz to head World Bank

Mark Tran
Wednesday March 16, 2005

=09US deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz
US deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz. Photograph: AP

The US president George Bush has picked the deputy defence secretary,
Paul Wolfowitz, one of America's leading neo-conservatives, to head the
World Bank, it was announced today.

In a terse statement, the World Bank said its board had received the
nomination and that board's executive directors were in the process of
consulting the member countries they represented.

"An official announcement of the outcome of the deliberations and
actions of the executive directors will be made as soon as a decision
has been reached," the Bank said.

Reports from Washington indicated that Mr Wolfowitz's nomination had not
gone down favourably with European directors. Reuters reported that Mr
Wolfowitz's name was circulated informally among board directors several
weeks ago and was rejected.

But Mr Wolfowitz has precedent on his side as no nomination has ever
been rejected.

"Mr [John] Snow [US treasury secretary] knows that the reaction from the
board was unfavourable," Reuters quoted one source as saying. "Mr
Wolfowitz's nomination today tells us the US couldn't care less what the
rest of the world thinks."

But Jack Straw, the British foreign secretary, voiced his support for
the US defence deputy secretary.

"This is a nomination by the United States government. Paul Wolfowitz is
very distinguished and experienced internationally and if his
appointment is confirmed we look forward to working with him," Mr Straw
said.

Mr Wolfowitz, one of the leading hawks in the Iraq war, is a very
unlikely choice to lead the World Bank, although he would not be the
first Pentagon figure to be president of the world's leading development
institution.

Robert McNamara, the US secretary of defence when America sank into the
Vietnam quagmire, was president of the World Bank from 1968 to 1981.

Mr Wolfowitz will succeed James Wolfensohn, who is stepping down as head
of the 184-country development bank on June 1 at the end of his second
five-year term. An Australian-born naturalised American, Mr Wolfensohn
has led the World Bank for 10 years.

During this time he has launched a charm offensive with development
groups that had been strongly critical of the Bank. He won much kudos
from NGOs such as Oxfam when he started championing debt reduction for
the world's poorest countries through joint initiatives with the Bank's
sister organisation, the International Monetary Fund.

While widely recognised as a defence intellectual, Mr Wolfowitz is not
exactly known as an expert on poverty. When his name first emerged as a
candidate for the job, along with that of the former Hewlett-Packard
chief executive Carly Fiorina, there was widespread incredulity among
development experts.

Peter Bosshard, the policy director of the International Rivers Network,
an American NGO, said: "In his career, Wolfowitz has so far not shown
any interest in poverty reduction, environmental protection and human
rights. His election as World Bank president would most likely
exacerbate the current backlash against social and environmental
concerns at the World Bank, and would initiate a new era of conflict
between the Bank and civil society."

As a forceful proponent of the war against Saddam Hussein, Mr Wolfowitz
will be viewed with suspicion by many in the developing world. Given the
controversial nature of the choice, the secretive selection process - as
well as the choice itself - is almost certain to invite criticism. Mr
Wolfowitz's appointment will not require senate confirmation.

This is the second time in as many weeks that Mr Bush has confounded the
international community with an unlikely personnel choice for a top
international institution. Last week, the president picked John Bolton,
another administration hawk, to be the US ambassador to the UN.

During the first Bush administration, Mr Bolton was number three at the
state department, responsible for arms control and security issues.
Strongly opposed in principle to the international criminal court, the
very embodiment of multilateralism, Mr Bolton told a conservative
audience 11 years ago: "The [UN] secretariat building in New York has 38
storeys. If it lost 10 storeys, it wouldn't make a bit of difference."

5. New York Times:
Bush Chooses a Top Pentagon Aide to Head the World Bank
By ELIZABETH BECKER
and DAVID E. SANGER

Published: March 16, 2005

WASHINGTON, March 16 - President Bush said today that he would nominate
Paul D. Wolfowitz, the deputy secretary of defense and one of the chief
architects of the invasion of Iraq two years ago, to become president of
the World Bank.

The announcement, coming on the heels of the appointment of John R.
Bolton as the new American ambassador to the United Nations, was greeted
with quiet anguish in those foreign capitals where the Iraq conflict and
its aftermath remain deeply unpopular, and where Mr. Wolfowitz's drive
to spread democracy around the world has been viewed with some suspicion.

Advertisement

In Washington, the appointment removes Mr. Wolfowitz from the
president's inner circle and a skilled bureaucratic in-fighter from the
Pentagon. It clears the way for Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to
take further control of Iraq policy, and opens the field for possible
successors to Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld, whose future is a
constant source of speculation in Washington.

The World Bank is the institution that allocates the resources and sets
development policy for much of the third world, and Mr. Wolfowitz's
appointment to succeed James D. Wolfensohn raises questions about
whether Mr. Wolfowitz's ideological views will be reflected in
development decisions. But as American ambassador to Indonesia from 1986
to 1989, Mr. Wolfowitz developed a passion for development and aid
issues, and Mr. Bush said today that "Paul is committed to development,"
adding, "He's a compassionate, decent man who will do a fine job."

Despite the displeasure of some diplomats who had hoped that the
administration would appoint a person without the almost radioactive
reputation of a committed ideologue, they said that they expected Mr.
Wolfowitz to receive the approval of the World Bank's board of directors
in time for Mr. Wolfensohn's departure in May.

Announcing the appointment at a news conference at the White House this
morning, Mr. Bush said he had already called various foreign leaders,
including Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of Italy, to make the case
that Mr. Wolfowitz would be a strong and effective leader at the World
Bank, in part because of his experience managing the huge bureaucracy of
the Pentagon.

Mr. Bush appeared expansive and almost light-hearted at the news
conference, and he was clearly reveling in the developments in Lebanon
and Iraq, where he asserted that democratization was on the rise. But he
also, for the first time, made clear the limits of his patience with
Iran - to which he extended modest new offers of American incentives
last week to give up its nuclear program. He said it had only one chance
to take the deal he had offered along with France, Germany and Britain.

Iran, he said, "must permanently abandon enrichment and reprocessing" of
nuclear material, a step the Iranians have so far insisted they will not
take. "The understanding is we go to the Security Council if they reject
the offer," he said. "And I hope they don't."

Yet he set no timelines, and said at the end of his news conference that
"there's a certain patience required in order to achieve a diplomatic
objective."

Mr. Bush also defended his administration's policy of "rendering" terror
suspects to nations that have been suspected of using torture, saying
that he was never knowingly allowing anyone to be sent abroad so that
they could be subject to interrogation techniques not permitted in the
United States. The United States sends suspects "back to their country
of origin with the promise that they won't be tortured," he said.
"That's the promise we receive. This country does not believe in
torture." But then, almost as an aside, he added: "We do believe in
protecting ourselves."

He also left open the door, as he did on Tuesday, for Hezbollah to enter
Lebanese politics. But he did not budge on the question of labeling it a
terror organization. "Hezbollah is on the terrorist list for a reason,
and remains on the terrorist list for a reason," he said. "Our position
has not changed on Hezbollah."

He said he had appointed his longtime aide from Texas, Karen Hughes, to
run the State Department's public diplomacy operation because her
strength was communicating a strong message.

  "It is very important for us to have a message that counteracts some
of the messages coming out of some of the Arab media, some of it coming
out, partly, because of our strong and unwavering friendship with
Israel," President Bush said. "You know, Israel is an easy target for
some of the media in the Middle East, and if you're a friend of Israel,
you become a target."

Advertisement

Mr. Wolfowitz is also likely to be a target - especially in the Mideast,
where he ranks among Israel's strongest defenders in the administration,
and because of his Iraq policies.

"We'll have to swallow Wolfowitz like we swallowed John Bolton, since
this is what we now know the administration means by effective
multilaterialism," said a foreign diplomat here who asked not to be
named because of the sensitivity of the issue.

Some officials within the World Bank said today that they hoped Mr.
Wolfowitz would follow the model of another famous former defense
secretary, Robert S. McNamara, who took over the bank after
orchestrating the early years of the Vietnam War. At the bank, Mr.
McNamara became an advocate of the poor, and was later credited with
moving the mission of the bank to find innovative ways to help the
world's most impoverished nations.

By tradition, the United States names the president of the World Bank
while Europe is allowed to chose the head of the International Monetary
Fund, the other organization within the United Nations family that
together with the World Bank determines international economic and
financial policy. Most developing countries want this tradition to change.

A former dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International
Studies, Mr. Wolfowitz has a doctorate in international relations and
was ambassador to Indonesia as well as a ranking State Department
official under President Reagan. Those are qualifications that most of
the other candidates considered for the job had been lacking. Moreover,
Mr. Wolfowitz also has the ear of President Bush.

Mr. Wolfensohn, who was part of the consultations that led to the choice
of Mr. Wolfowitz, had high praise for him as his potential successor,
saying in a statement that he is "person of high intellect, integrity
and broad experience both in the public and private sectors and has
qualifications that would be critical to leading the Bank Group."

Timothy Carney, a retired ambassador and career diplomat who served
under Mr. Wolfowitz in Indonesia and Iraq, said that Mr. Wolfowitz "will
bring experience in the developing world, enormous energy and intellect,
and a willingness to listen to divergent views to the World Bank."

"The downside," said Mr. Carney, "might be that it takes him too long to
change his mind when he finds out he is wrong."

Key among the concerns of his critics is Mr. Wolfowitz' reputation for
pursuing an ideological agenda. Several officials said they feared that
he would use his position as World Bank president to focus on the Middle
East and his notion of democratization, rather than continue the current
emphasis on Africa and poverty reduction through a variety of new tests,
including the policing of corruption and heavy spending on education
instead of the military.

Among antipoverty advocates, the announcement was treated with almost
universal disdain.

"As the most prominent advocate of imposing the U.S.'s will on the
world, the architect of the disastrous invasion and occupation of Iraq,
this appointment signals to developing countries that the U.S. is just
as serious about imposing its will on borrowers from the World Bank as
on the countries of the Middle East," said Njoki Njoroge Njehu, director
of the 50 Years is Enough Network, which opposes most of the World
Bank's policies.


6. US's Wolfowitz sees 'noble mission' at World Bank
Wed Mar 16, 2005 04:35 PM ET
WASHINGTON, March 16 (Reuters) - President Bush's nominee for World Bank
president, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, a magnet for
criticism of the U.S.-led war in Iraq, on Wednesday pledged to serve the
bank's multinational membership and build consensus.

"I understand that in this job I'll be an international civil servant
reporting to a multinational board, responsible for hearing all their
views," he said in a brief meeting with reporters at the Treasury
Department.

Wolfowitz said that although he would be leaving the Defense Department
while U.S. troops remain in Iraq, he would welcome joining the World
Bank's "noble mission" of poverty eradication.

"I'm leaving one very big job and going to another even bigger job," he
said.

7. IMF chief says Wolfowitz has impressive record
Wed Mar 16, 2005 12:23 PM ET
WASHINGTON, March 16 (Reuters) - The head of the International Monetary
Fund said on Wednesday if Paul Wolfowitz was confirmed as the World
Bank's new president, he would bring an "impressive record" and
experience in world affairs.

I look forward to working with him," IMF Managing Director Rodrigo Rato
said in a statement, in reaction to Wednesday's nomination by the Bush
administration of Wolfowitz for World Bank president.

James Wolfensohn steps down at the end of May after 10 years as head of
the Washington-based development bank.

8. 50 YEARS IS ENOUGH: U.S. NETWORK FOR GLOBAL ECONOMIC JUSTICE

     For Immediate Release
     March 16, 2005 =96 12:30 pm EST

     WOLFOWITZ TO WORLD BANK?! =96 CRITICS AMAZED
     Maybe Worst Possible Choice; Global Opposition to Selection
     =93The Ball is in the Europeans=92 Court=94

     Two hours ago, President Bush announced his nomination of Paul
Wolfowitz, currently Assistant Secretary of Defense, to be the next
President of the World Bank. The U.S., by tradition, nominates the World
Bank President. Although the Bank=92s Board of Governors must approve it,
no nomination has ever been rejected.

     =93Paul Wolfowitz is the most controversial choice Bush could have
made,=94 said Njoki Njoroge Njehu, Director of the 50 Years Is Enough
Network. =93As the most prominent advocate of imposing the U.S.=92s will on
the world =96 the architect of the disastrous invasion and occupation of
Iraq =96 this appointment signals to developing countries that the U.S. is
just as serious about imposing its will on borrowers from the World Bank
as on the countries of the Middle East. Coming on the heels of the
nomination of John Bolton as Ambassador to the U.N., it reveals the
contempt this Administration has for the international community.=94

     =93The 50 Years Is Enough Network opposes this nomination,=94 Njehu
continued, =93and urges people around the world, and especially in Europe,
to contact their government officials to insist that the nomination be
defeated. Once again, just as with Iraq, President Bush may be proving
his campaign promise to be =91a uniter, not a divider=92: the world will
unite against this choice. The ball really is in the Europeans=92 court now=
.=94

     Reliable reports from Europe suggest that the World Bank Executive
Directors from that region and some government officials are very
opposed to Wolfowitz=92s nomination. When rumors of the choice first arose
two weeks ago, most World Bank watchers concluded that they must be
mischievous jokes, and some European officials may have concluded likewise.

     The European countries together form a substantial enough bloc to
reject the U.S. action. Doing so, however, would spotlight the absurdly
anti-democratic way in which the heads of the international financial
institutions are chosen. While the institutions insist that borrowers
institute =93good governance,=94 the President of the World Bank is chosen
in a secret process by the U.S. and the Managing Director of the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) is chosen in a messier, largely secret
process by the countries of Western Europe. The U.S. was careful not to
interfere with the choice of Rodrigo Rato of Spain as head of the IMF
last year, and likely expects the same deference from the Europeans now.

     =93The Bright Side=94

     If Wolfowitz does become President of the World Bank, it could have
some positive effects. Soren Ambrose, Senior Policy Analyst with the 50
Years Is Enough Network noted, =93If confirm, we would no longer have to
work so hard to convince people that the World Bank is an instrument of
U.S. foreign and economic policy. Wolfowitz has no experience in
development, just a fierce ideological dedication to hard-core
neo-liberal economics and U.S. domination. With Wolfowitz in place, the
Bank=92s masterful spinners of noble rhetoric will be unable to persuade
anyone that the institution is really working for the benefit of the
poor. We=92ll finally be able to use the word =91imperialism=92 about Bank
policy without raising eyebrows.=94

     =93In other words,=94 said Ambrose, =94between exposing the true dange=
rs
of the lack of democracy at the World Bank and putting the most visible
symbol of U.S. imperialism in the most prominent position in
international development, President Bush will accomplish more in
de-legitimizing the World Bank than any other single action ever could.=94

     Soren Ambrose
     New Voices on Globalization /
     50 Years Is Enough Network
     3628 12th St., N.E.
     Washington, DC 20017 USA
     office: +1-202-636-6097
     mobile: +1-202-285-5836
     soren@igc.org


9. Institute for Public Accuracy
915 National Press Building, Washington, D.C. 20045
(202) 347-0020 * http://www.accuracy.org * ipa@accuracy.org
___________________________________________________

         PM Wednesday, March 16, 2005

         Paul Wolfowitz Nominated as President of the World Bank

         Interviews Available

ROBERT WEISSMAN, (202) 387-8030; (202) 360-1844, rob@essential.org,
http://www.essential.org
Co-director of Essential Action, Weissman said today: "Wolfowitz brings
no apparent development experience to the job, but does offer a record
of unabashed militarism and unilateralism that represents exactly the
wrong direction for the World Bank. Militarism and wasteful spending on
weaponry is a huge problem in the developing world. The nomination of
Paul Wolfowitz, who is emblematic of misplaced priorities in the United
States -- sends exactly the wrong message to poor developing countries
that should spend far less money on military operations and instead
invest to advance genuine national security interests, such as health
care, education and providing for basic survival."

WILLIAM HARTUNG, (212) 229-5808 x 106, (917) 923-3202, hartung@newschool.ed=
u
Hartung is senior research fellow at the World Policy Institute and
director of the Arms Trade Resource Center. He said today: "It looks
like everyone who made a mess out of Iraq is getting golden parachutes.
Paul Wolfowitz has a serious credibility problem. He understated the
cost of the Iraq war, while promoting vast distortions about Baghdad's
weapons capabilities as a way to sell the conflict to the American
public. He couldn't remember how many U.S. causalities there were in
Iraq, and he's now slated to be head of a nominally humanitarian
agency." Hartung wrote the book "How Much Are You Making on the War,
Daddy? -- A Quick and Dirty Guide to War Profiteering in the Bush
Administration."

NJOKI NJOROGE NJEHU, (202) 463-2265, (202) 746-4318,
50years@50years.org, http://www.50years.org
SOREN AMBROSE, (202) 285-5836, soren@igc.org
Njehu is the director of the 50 Years Is Enough Network. She said today:
"As the most prominent advocate of imposing the U.S.'s will on the world
-- the architect of the disastrous invasion and occupation of Iraq --
this appointment signals to developing countries that the U.S. is just
as serious about imposing its will on borrowers from the World Bank as
on the countries of the Middle East. Coming on the heels of the
nomination of John Bolton as Ambassador to the U.N., it reveals the
contempt this Administration has for the international community. ...
While the World Bank insists that borrowers institute 'good governance,'
the President of the World Bank is chosen in a secret process by the
U.S. ..." Ambrose is the group's senior analyst.

NEIL WATKINS, (202) 783-0129, (202) 421-1023, neil@jubileeusa.org,
http://www.jubileeiraq.org/creditors/us.htm
Watkins is National Coordinator of Jubilee USA Network. He said today:
"Perhaps the silver lining in this choice is that Wolfowitz was a
leading advocate for canceling Iraq's debt ... His advocacy for
canceling Iraq's debt on the grounds of its odiousness -- its history of
being contracted by a dictator without public consent, and the funds
used for purposes antithetical to the public interest -- mirrors one of
the chief arguments jubilee campaigns have long invoked in the their
struggle for debt cancellation in dozens of countries. ... If the World
Bank is a development organization of more than 180 member nations, as
it claims, it is unacceptable for one nation to unilaterally select its
leader."  [In 2003, Paul Wolfowitz made the following statement to a
Senate hearing: "I hope, for example, they'll think about the very large
debts that come from money that was lent to the dictator to buy weapons
and to build palaces. . . . I think they ought to consider whether it
might not be appropriate to forgive some or all of that debt." <See
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=3Darticle&contentId=3DA52=
81-2003Apr10>]

For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020, (202) 421-6858; or David Zupan, (541) 484-916=
7



TREASURY SECRETARY LAUDS CHOICE OF PAUL WOLFOWITZ TO LEAD WORLD BANK


This Department of Treasury press release may be viewed at:
http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/js2320.htm

Treasury Secretary John Snow today praised the President's
nomination
of Paul Wolfowitz to be the next World Bank President. "The
tremendously important mission of the World Bank demands that it be
led by an outstanding person; someone with proven leadership
skills,
management experience in large organizations, international
diplomatic
experience, real vision, a commitment and passion for development,
and
the knowledge of how to make it happen. Paul Wolfowitz meets and
exceeds each and all of these criteria. He is a highly qualified
candidate for this post, which is one of great magnitude and
far-reaching consequences. I am proud to join the President in
advancing this recommendation.

"As the leading international institution charged with reducing
poverty, the World Bank's purpose is noble and unique. It
represents
the hope of impoverished people across the globe. In considering
candidates for this position, we consulted extensively with the
Bank's
Executive Board and Development Committee to come to a consensus on
the essential qualifications of a World Bank leader as well as the
timing of this selection. We wanted to find a person with the
ability
to build on Jim Wolfensohn's outstanding leadership and invaluable
contributions. Mr. Wolfensohn has been a faithful, ardent and
inspiring World Bank President; he is a tough act to follow, but I
believe we have found the man who can do so and continue Jim's
distinguished record of accomplishment.

"The timing of this nomination will also allow for a smooth
transition, well in advance of the Spring Meetings of the World
Bank
and International Monetary Fund (IMF)

"We evaluated many exceptional candidates and have recommended an
individual that more than meets the standards of excellence for
this
position. Paul Wolfowitz is a proven leader, manager and diplomat.
He
is the right man for the job, and the World Bank will benefit from
his
unique set of skills and great passion for the Bank's cause."

10. MGJ: Paul Wolfowitz as Head of the World Bank! Say it ain=92t So!

The Mobilization for Global Justice

For Immediate Release

March 16th, 2005
Contact: mgj at riseup.net

Paul Wolfowitz as Head of the World Bank! Say it ain=92t So!

The Mobilization for Global Justice is shocked and awed at the audacity
of the
Bush administration in nominating Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz t=
o
head the World Bank. Mr. Wolfowitz is a proven enemy of justice and peace
worldwide. Our stomachs turn and our hands wring at the thought of the Worl=
d
Bank under the leadership of Paul Wolfowitz.  As a US-based activist
group, we
reaffirm our commitment to continued acts of resistance to the World Bank
through demonstrations, direct action and popular education.

This move by the Bush Administration makes the MGJ=92s planned actions at t=
he
World Bank and IMF spring meetings, April 16-17, even more important.
The MGJ
urges everyone who cares about the economic fate of the world to be in
Washington, DC on those dates.

Jon Scolnik, an organizer with MGJ, summed it up when he said =93The
nomination of
Wolfowitz casts aside all doubt as to the true imperialistic and destructiv=
e
nature of the World Bank.=94

MGJ expects that under the leadership of Wolfowitz, the World Bank will
not only
be driven by an ideology of the supremacy of capital and the free market
over
the lives and dignity of people, but also by the ideology that all out
war is
an acceptable way to enforce that vision.

Althea Swett with MGJ added that =93Over the past twenty-plus years,
Wolfowitz has
supported and orchestrated US military actions throughout the world.
You can
not work to end poverty while advocating for increased militarization
and war.=94

The Mobilization for Global Justice stands firmly by its demands of the
World
Bank and IMF:
=95 Open all World Bank and IMF meetings to the media and the public.
=95 Cancel all impoverished country debt to the World Bank and IMF, using t=
he
institutions' own resources.
=95 End all World Bank and IMF policies that hinder people's access to
food, clean
water, shelter, health care, education, and right to organize. (Such
"structural
adjustment" policies include user fees, privatization, and economic
austerity
programs.)
=95 Stop all World Bank support for socially and environmentally destructiv=
e
projects such as oil, gas, and mining activities, and all support for
projects
such as dams that include the forced relocation of people.

Given the impending doom that is the World Bank headed by Mr. Wolfowitz, th=
e
Mobilization for Global Justice calls the people of the US to continue to
resistance to the policies of the World Bank.  It is a scary and tragic
thought
that under the helm of Wolfowitz the bond between economic and military
suppression will grow even stronger.