Wolfowitz Confident He Can Win Over Critics

[Rose Siding]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Paul Wolfowitz, the controversial choice of President Bush to head the World Bank, said on Friday his image as an architect of the Iraq war was an inaccurate caricature and he was confident he could win over his critics.

In an interview with Reuters, Wolfowitz said that if confirmed in the post, "I am certainly not going to impose the U.S. agenda on the bank."
...
The U.S. deputy defense secretary described his critics as "people who don't know me" and said when they "get to know me they will realize fairly quickly that I'm about a lot more than military issues, about a lot more than just the Iraq war and that a good deal that has been written about me is an inaccurate caricature."
...
"I don't think there is a single answer to the challenge of terrorism" and endeavoring to combat terrorism is not the reason to work on poverty reduction, which has "worthy goals, noble goals in themselves," he said.

But "I think poverty reduction will help" in the war against terrorism, he said.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/03/19/wolfowitz_confident_he_can_win_over_critics/

[paineinthearse]

1. I have a deal for Wolfie..........

Swap jobs with Bono.

Wolfie can be lead singer for U2, and Bono can be Assistant Secretary of Defense.

We'll give the World Bank Job to Robert MacNamara, or someone with a qualified background.

[realFedUp]

2. Reuters as steno takers.

"I am certainly not going to impose the U.S. agenda on the bank."

yeah, right.

[ngGale]

3. Does he really believe this...

will ever happen? The whole world knows exactly what he's up to.

[paineinthearse]

4. Who are the directors

And how is the vote conducted?

[bettyellen]

6. I found this.......

http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/wbimf/faq.html

Who makes decisions at the World Bank and IMF?

Decisions at the World Bank and IMF are made by a vote of the Board of Executive Directors, which represents member countries. Unlike the United Nations, where each member nation has an equal vote, voting power at the World Bank and IMF is determined by the level of a nation's financial contribution. Therefore, the United States has roughly 17% of the vote, with the seven largest industrialized countries (G-7) holding a total of 45%. Because of the scale of its contribution, the United States has always had a dominant voice and has at all times exercised an effective veto. At the same time, developing countries have relatively little power within the institution, which, through the programs and policies they decide to finance, have tremendous impact throughout local economies and societies. Furthermore, the President of the World Bank is by tradition an American, and the IMF President is a European.

[paineinthearse]

11. Thank you!!!!!!!!!!

You're better than "ask jeeves"!!!!

[bettyellen]

16. for you..... anytime.

[LibertyLover]

17. Bank Executive Directors

It's been a while since I had to look at the Executive Director list of the Bank because I usually only have to deal with a couple of them and I know their names, but we have, if memory serves, 24 executive directors. The major countries like the US, Great Britain, France, Germany, and Japan each have an Exec. Director, who is a national of that country. Countries like Indonesia, Thailand, Vanuatu, Macedonia, Lithuania, Chile, Senegal or Jordan are represented by one Exec. Director who is a national of one of the group of countries he represents. The Exec. Directors who represent these groups of countries confer with their governments prior to voting on major issues like approving a president or admittance of a new member country. It will be interesting to see what happens. While the US is our largest shareholder and has proportionate voting rights, if enough of the other members voted their shares negatively, Wolfowitz could be turned down. However, I think it will happen - the US will vote for him and so will Great Britain who is the next largest shareholder. Still it will be interesting - Wolfowitz' name was circulated to the EDs a couple of weeks ago as a trial balloon and he was turned down. If he does get in, I'll be bummed - one of the fun perks of working for the Bank Group is that when you've been there 10 years you get your picture taken shaking hands with the president. I'll have been there 10 years come this August and was hoping that Wolfensohn would still be our president. If it's Wolfowitz and they continue the tradition of photos, I will decline if at all possible (I may not be able to because of negative impact on my job and if that's the case, I'll do it and wash my hands afterwards with a good antibacterial soap).

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. And he was also confident about a few other things,

like, that the Iraq invasion could be wrapped up quickly and cheaply and US troops wouold be greeted with parades and flowers. Given his batting average I wouldn't put much stock in Wolfie the Comb-Licker's confidence this time, either.

[Erika]

7. I can't overcome the grossness of his licking his comb

on camera! Yuk.

[Cha]

8. Yeah, they're always "confident" they

twist arms with back room deals.

MF!

[unhappycamper]

9. lick it, slam it, suck it

you mean that's for a COMB? lol

[rigel99]

10. Yeah, I"m basically a good guy

out looking for another bank to rob to help old buddy bushie start a war in Iran.. the social security bank raid hasn't gone too well lately, so we thought we'd steal from even poorer people than little old ladies in America....

face it... bushie and friends is dead broke and they need to put a wolf in bank sheeps' clothing.....

[paineinthearse]

12. Minister of Warmongering

[jhain]

13. As if

he ever gives a shit what the world's peons think of him.
Puhh.

[Lindacooks]

14. How, by sucking their blood and turning them into vampires too?

eom

[teryang]

15. The pathetically insecure killer tries to be statesman like.

He simple mindedness defies explanation. This is clearly not a case of the best and brightest. The man's underestimation of public intelligence is the product of ideology and vanity only a maniac could achieve.

His cynicism has reached a level so deep, that he has gone absolutely stupid. It's the bunker syndrome.

[jdots]

18. I used to be one of his critics

I stick up for him now,someone said he eats dog poop sandwichs,and I told them Wulfy doesn't eat bread. badda bong-
Wolfy go to jail ,do not pass go.

[Hand]

19. Hey, I'm one of his critics

And I say "BRING IT ON, COMBSUCKER!"

[signmike]

20. They'll be won over. Or else.

[Fovea]

21. Home of imperial hubris

What a monumental egoist.
No guilt, not a single mia culpa.
When I stare into those two cold little nuggets
that are his eyes, I see nothing of the milk of human kindness.

I see only a monument to self aggrandizement, and a bottomless sense of entitlement.

When Wolfie says 'poverty reduction' he makes it
sound vaguely dirty. This whole rash of stupidly aggressive
appointments from Condi's lack of cred at State, to Torquemada Gonzales, Bolton and now this... It reminds me of the post Saturday night massacre Nixon.

[chieftain]

22. He was confident that we didn't need hundreds of thousands

of troops in Iraq . He was confident that the oil revenues from Iraq would pay for this adventure . The entire world should shudder when Wolfowitz is confident and the smart moey should load up on the other side .

[0007]

26. ....Wolfowitz didn't think the Iraq war would cost over 15B

[More Than A Feeling]

23. I call bullshit n/t

[LynnTheDem]

24. "There's a lot of money to pay for this, it doesn't have to be U.S.

taxpayer money, we are dealing with a country that can really finance it's own reconstruction, and relatively soon."

"But some of the higher end predictions that we have been hearing recently, such as the notion that it will take several hundred thousand U.S. troops to provide stability in post-Saddam Iraq, are wildly off the mark."

"For bureaucratic reasons, we settled on one issue, weapons of mass destruction, (as justification for invading Iraq) because it was the one reason everyone could agree on."

"Like the people of France in the 1940s, (the Iraqis) view us as their hoped-for liberators."

Wrong.

Wrong.

Wrong.

Wrong.

No wonder bush is promoting him.

[bobthedrummer]

25. I consider Paul Wolfowitz a traitor to our US Constitution

among other things.
:argh: