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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: DuckTapeSunroof who wrote (762561)	5/29/2007 6:26:49 PM
From: pompsander	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769670

Another Vulcan..sort of, takes over the World Bank. _____________________________ Bush picks Zoellick as new World Bank chief By Tabassum Zakaria 24 minutes ago WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush has chosen Robert Zoellick, a former U.S. trade representative, as the new president of the World Bank to replace Paul Wolfowitz, a senior U.S. official said on Tuesday. Bush plans to announce his selection on Wednesday and expects the bank's board to accept it, the administration official said. Bush had said he wanted an American to succeed Wolfowitz, despite increasing calls from World Bank member countries and some U.S. lawmakers to throw the process open to a global pool of candidates. The controversy over Wolfowitz's authorization of a hefty raise for his companion, Middle East expert Shaha Riza, deepened rifts among bank staff already discontented over his anti-corruption agenda and prompted sharp criticism from shareholder countries. Wolfowitz also was controversial because of his role as a key architect of the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq while serving in Bush's Defense Department. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson received "positive reactions" from other countries to the choice of Zoellick, the administration official told reporters. Zoellick left his job as deputy secretary of state last year to join Wall Street investment bank Goldman Sachs & Co. He had been tipped as a candidate last year to become Treasury Secretary, but that job went to then-Goldman Sachs chief executive Paulson instead. As Bush's first trade representative, Zoellick helped launch the Doha round of world trade talks and completed negotiations to bring China and Taiwan into the World Trade Organization. He continued a major focus on China as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's top deputy. 'VULCANS' Zoellick was one of 18 mostly conservative figures, including former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, who wrote a much publicized letter to former President Bill Clinton in 1998 advocating removing Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq. Soon after that he was chosen as a member of the co-called "Vulcans" -- about half a dozen senior level officials, mostly from President George H.W. Bush's administration -- brought together under Rice to advise candidate George W. Bush on foreign policy before his 2000 presidential election. Zoellick's experience in finance and diplomacy "make him uniquely prepared to take on this challenge," the administration official said. "He has the trust and respect of many officials around the world and believes deeply in the World Bank's mission of tackling poverty," the official added. Paulson, who spearheaded the effort to find Wolfowitz's successor and had been charged with recommending a nominee to Bush, sounded out other member countries before making a recommendation. Bush made the final decision on Zoellick over the weekend, the administration official said. Asked whether the World Bank board would approve of Zoellick, the official said, "We have every confidence in that." The United States has traditionally selected the head of the World Bank -- a convention started when the institution was founded 60 years ago -- while Europe has chosen the head of its sister organization, the International Monetary Fund. In addition to a growing number of countries that wanted a global search for the next bank president, four U.S. House of Representatives committee chairmen last week also urged an open search, saying the best nominee "could come from anywhere."