April 26, 2007 Wolfowitz Escalates Battle to Stay at Bank By STEVEN R. WEISMAN
WASHINGTON, April 25 Escalating his campaign to remain president of the World Bank, Paul D. Wolfowitz accused the banks board on Wednesday of treating him shabbily and unfairly, and appealed for more time to defend himself against allegations of favoritism and other matters.
Mr. Wolfowitz, increasingly isolated at the bank and facing a board seemingly determined to force his resignation, sent a letter to the head of a board panel dealing with issues affecting his leadership, asking to appear
before the board next week in the interest of fairness to me and good governance at the bank. ...
[WS:] Somebody with the inside connection to the Bank conjectured that this is really a battle over the loan program for Iraq. The Bushites need it badly, because oil revenues that Wolfie predicted before the war did not materialize, and no sane person is going to invest in this hell hole. So the Bank is their last hope. Wolfie reportedly sacked the VP who refused to open a Bank's office in Bagdad.
If this is true, it may explain the extent of the opposition to Wolfie's tenure. There is far more at stake here than his personal corruption and cronyism, which are not exceptional in those echelons.
Wojtek