Tony Blair as Wolfie's successor!!!
Wolfowitz Taint Will Limit Bush's Choices For Successor
World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz's resignation yesterday brings an ugly chapter in the Bush administration to a close, while also making George W. Bush's efforts to salvage his presidency in the eyes of the world even more difficult.
Paul Wolfowitz
Wolfowitz, whom Bush tapped to head the Bank two years ago, created a firestorm after he arranged for a promotion and raise for his girlfriend, Shaha Riza, then a PR contact at the World Bank. Wolfowitz requested a recusal from administration decisions involving Riza, but after the Bank's ethics panel declined, Riza was moved to the State Department, and at a higher salary than the top boss there, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Members of the World Bank, particularly Europeans, resisted Wolfowitz's leadership from the beginning. The former second-in-command at the Pentagon was widely seen as an awkward fit at the institution, which is devoted to resolving global poverty. And Wolfowitz's branding as a foreign policy hawk and one of the architects of the Iraq war did not earn him any favors with the Europeans, either.
Earlier this month, Wolfowitz, backed by high-octane Washington attorney Robert Bennett, vowed to the Bank's executive board that if he went down, he would take the Bank with him. Bennett told Newsweek on May 3 that Wolfowitz would release the salaries and perks of Bank officials if the board investigating the Riza affair concluded he acted unethically.
In the end, Wolfowitz decided to save himself. He agreed to step down yesterday after the Bank's executive board offered to release a neutral statement on the scandal: "He assured us that he acted ethically and in good faith in what he believed were the best interests of the institution, and we accept that." The board also thanked Wolfowitz for his service, while noting that "a number of mistakes were made."
The compromise both rids the World Bank of Wolfowitz and allows him to keep his tenure there on his resume. Though it's safe to say Wolfowitz's work in politics is all but over, the White House also gets to stand by its assertion that he did nothing wrong.
Shaha Riza
But Bush's hands will certainly be tied as he seeks out Wolfowitz's successor. AP reports that Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, who will be helping Bush with the search, hinted that the president would be open to suggestions from those outside the United States: "I will consult my colleagues around the world as we search for a leader." Paulson is among the names being floated as a possible replacement, along with Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick, Sen. Richard Lugar and former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker -- all of whom have comparatively unassailable reputations.
The pressure will be on to move quickly. Wolfowitz's last day is June 30, and the G-8 summit, which will focus on poverty and debt relief, is less than three weeks away. Debt relief was a main focus of the Bank under Wolfowitz, but his efforts to clamp down on corruption in impoverished borrower nations drew scrutiny as well.
In a briefing this morning, deputy press secretary Tony Fratto dodged reporters' questions about the clamor among European members for a non-American Bank president. But the Wolfowitz scandal, which has become twinned in the public eye with the scandal surrounding Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, has only compounded the perception that the White House does not do HR very well.
The Europeans, who already hold a low opinion of Bush because of the war, are pouncing on this as they pressure him to depart from practice and consider a non-American. Bush's friend, outgoing British Prime Minister Tony Blair, is being suggested, possibly as a way to soften the consideration process for the president.
thegate.nationaljournal.com |
