by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright May 1, 2007
All Rights Reserved.

sking, “what's love got to do with it?” World Bank President, former Deputy Defense Secretary and principle architect of the Iraq War, Paul D. Wolfowitz has disgraced his country for the second time, arranging a “sweetheart deal” for his girlfriend bank employee Shaha Ali Riza. With a special panel the World Bank's board looking into egregious conflicts-of-interest, the 63-year-old Cornell mathematics graduate helped crunch some interesting numbers, landing his significant-other a $60,000-plus raise. “I acted transparently, sought and received guidance from the bank's ethics committee and conducted myself in good faith in accordance with that guidance,” said Wolfowitz in a prepared statement, accusing the panel of a “smear campaign” to impugn his reputation as the two-year World Bank president. Few people at the World Bank or in the press new of his affair with Riza.

      Acting stunned by the bank's concerns over conflicts-of-interest, Wolfowitz showed the same unctuous quality while serving as Asst. Defense Secretary under former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld. Earning his Ph.D. in political science at the University of Chicago, Wolfowitz should know about conflicts-of-interest having lived through Watergate, Iran-Contra and the incestuous relationship between the Pentagon and the White House in the lead-up to the Iraq war. Former CIA Director George J. Tenet in a newly released memoir titled, “At the Center of the Storm,” claims the White House bypassed the CIA regarding Saddam's weapons of mass destruction in the run-up to March 20, 2003 war. Wolfowitz, Douglas Feith, former head of the Pentagon's Office of Special Plans, and Richard N. Perle, former Chair of the Defense Policy Board, all manufactured intelligence to justify the war.

      Heading the World Bank, Wolfowitz was commissioned with the awesome responsibility of financing third-world debt. Lining his own pockets or those of his girlfriend can't pass unnoticed by the World Bank board. “The goal of this smear campaign, I believe, is to create a self-fulfilling prophecy that I am an ineffective leader and must step down for that reason, even if the ethics charges are unwarranted,” said Wolfowitz, diverting attention away from his breach. Whether he's competent or not, flagrantly ignoring fraternization policies and raising the pay of his girlfriend goes beyond anything related to competence. Acts of moral turpitude also disqualify individuals from holding fiduciary duties, like president of the World Bank. President George W. Bush said Wolfowitz “ought to be given a fair hearing,” stopping short of endorsing his embattled friend.

      Wolfowitz talks about “transparency” when he transferred Riza out of the World Bank to the State Department where she got an automatic raise from $133,00 to $180,000, eventually a $193,500. Wolfowitz claims he notified the bank's ethic's committee, justifying keeping Riza at the State Department while she continued to collect her bank salary. When Wolfolwitz started his “romantic” relationship with Riza, he transferred her out of bank believing, in his clouded judgment, that it made his relationship OK. Transferring to the State Department only hoodwinked the ethical breach, bumping up her salary outside bank operations. “I will not resign in the face of plainly bogus charge of conflict-of-interest,” said Wolfowitz, acting as if he did nothing wrong. Sending Riza to the State Department while remaining on the bank's payroll proved his shenanigans.

      Wolfowitz claimed that Riza's $180,000 salary was in line with other bank employees in comparable positions. Bumping her up to $193,500 pushed her salary beyond the Secretary of State. Had Riza simply gone to the State Department, her salary would have been half the amount. Keeping her on the bank payroll capitalized on the extravagant salaries paid to World Bank employees. “Many World Bank employees are, comparatively speaking, generously paid, and hundreds of them earn more than the Secretary of State,” said Wolfowitz, admitting why he circumvented the system and retained Rita on the lucrative World Bank payroll. Despite insisting that Riza's arrangement was vetted by the ethic's committee, Wolfowitiz should have known better, messing with her salary. Sending her to State Department showed he attempted to game the system.

      Like he did at the Pentagon, Wolfowitz played fast-and-loose with the facts, preferring to make-up his own rules rather than accept legitimate bank practices. Had he accepted the CIA's prewar Iraq intelligence, he probably still would have urged Bush to go to war with Saddam. His conduct at the World Bank showed blinding contempt and rebellious disregard for appropriate bank standards. No financial institution—or other businesses for that matter—would justify paying an extravagant salary to an employee working at a different institution, especially one having an affair with the boss. Once Wolfowitz got involved with Riza, he should have ended her bank employment or his own. Giving her generous raises and keeping her on the payroll showed blatant disregard for the World Bank. Now faced with possibly losing his job, Wolfowitz cries foul and points the finger at the board.

About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

©1999-2005 Discobolos Consulting Services, Inc.
(310) 204-8300
All Rights Reserved.