Mr. Wolfowitz and the Bank

When Paul Wolfowitz speaks publicly these days, he is usually making good sense. The head of the World Bank (formerly No. 2 at the Pentagon) has criticized Chinese banks for ignoring environmental and human rights standards when they lend to Africa, told the White House it needs to do more to alleviate African poverty, and has vowed that corrupt officials won’t be allowed to siphon off money from projects that are supposed to benefit the poor.

So why do so many people at the bank mistrust him — including many of the leading shareholders? At last fall’s annual meeting, European ministers insisted that the bank’s board would oversee Mr. Wolfowitz’s anticorruption program, to ensure that no country was punished arbitrarily.

That is not a vote of confidence and not a healthy state of affairs. Mr. Wolfowitz needs to figure out how to earn more than just the Bush administration’s trust.

Some of his critics will never forgive him for championing the disastrous Iraq war. But he has compounded their suspicions, surrounding himself with a tight group of former Bush administration officials who — true to their roots — have little patience for explaining themselves and even less for criticism... http://tinyurl.com/yajp6n [Open in new window]

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