Yes, the directors admit, Mr. Wolfowitz was the one who surfaced the potential conflict of interest; yes, the ethics committee told him that the bank's vice president for human resources "should act upon your instruction" in settling the matter. And, yes, the ethics committee twice approved what Mr. Wolfowitz had done -- and at least on the second occasion had access to all the details of Ms. Riza's salary package. Ethics committee chairman Ad Melkert -- whose main goal throughout seems to have been to duck any responsibility for anything -- at that time advised Mr. Wolfowitz that "on the basis of a careful review" the committee had no objection to make.
Furthermore, the Board has behaved abominably:
Astonishingly, they go on to rebuke Mr. Wolfowitz for turning the controversy "into an ugly public relations campaign" -- this after bank officials have leaked one accusation after another against him and refused to allow Ms. Riza to publish an op- ed in her own defense.
Nevertheless --and in spite of the fact that WaPo was happy to be a recipient of these leaked accusations, waiting until today to report on any of this-- it's Wolfowitz who must go:
It's enough to make you want to wash your hands of the whole thing. But the bank still matters as an institution that helps the world's poor. Bush administration officials so far have fought for Mr. Wolfowitz to keep his job. That's no longer in the bank's best interest.This is what passes for moral reasoning among the ruling class. Meanwhile, The Times (UK) is reporting Wolfie's hours are numbered.
Update: A few more people take notice that a grave injustice is being done. A few "well-informed" others, not so much (see comments).
Update 2: All afternoon various sources reported Wolfie's resignation was imminent. Now ABC news says he wants to force a vote, and the NYT agrees.
People close to the negotiations said that the threat to oust Mr. Wolfowitz had, in the previous 24 hours, taken a bizarre U-turn, with Mr. Wolfowitz challenging the bank’s directors to vote him out, knowing that the United States would oppose that move. Previously, Mr. Wolfowitz had been doing everything in his power to prevent such a vote.snip
“The bank board is ready to vote Wolfowitz out of office, and Wolfowitz is calling their bluff,” said a bank official briefed on the negotiations. “It’s going to be difficult for the board to drop its charges against him, but they’re going to have to do it if they want to resolve this. They’re staring each other down, but the bank side is blinking furiously.”
