[lbo-talk] Baying of the Wolfie

[Wojtek Sokolowski]

Myself:
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.

[WS:] Here is what that someone says on the subject:

"If my assumptions are true, this would be big because the contributors to
IDA would be financing the other sectors while the US spends on the war.
[...] W had stopped all lending to certain countries in Africa on the
argument that until good governance and corruption is tackled no lending (ie
Congo, Kenya) for a while.  One has to investigate if those IDA funds where
reallocated towards Irak lending program during that period to increase it
(IDA allocation is pretty fixed but can be shuffle from one country to
another (ie conflicts period).  

 
You could throw the idea to your journalist friend to start investigating
that aspect.  He could contact IMF and WB staff who works on Irak and asked
them what have been the yearly IDA allocation to Irak since the war started
while investigating what happened in those "corrupted" countries during the
same period.

 
Honestly the more I think about it the more it scares me. The Board of
Directors may have been involved in that influenced by W and the Americans
since 2003; hence how could they come out clear and loud on getting rid of
him (they will all have to go).

 
There is a silence at the Bank right now from the top that is quite
disturbing."

Doug?

Wojtek