The attempts
by the Bush administration to do right by Paul Wolfowitz are
touching, if laughably inadequate. Apparently the latest trial balloon being
floated by the White House is that Wolfowtiz gets absolved on the grounds of
"acting in good faith", and then, maybe, at some unspecified point
in the future, he resigns (or doesn’t) on fluffier grounds associated with his
leadership.
Not only is this idea clearly about a month too late, it also ignores the fact
that the Bank’s board has already found Wolfowitz guilty, not to mention the
fact that Wolfowitz’s whiny
pleas yesterday went into no little detail about how he wanted to change
his leadership style – thereby giving him a loophole which would allow
him, under the proposed US deal, to stay on.
Steven Weisman, of the New York Times, does raise one hope with his choice
of words, only to dash it later on in the sentence:
It appeared that the best the administration could hope for was the possibility
of President Bush appealing personally to Prime Minister Tony Blair, with
whom he is scheduled to meet at the White House on Wednesday, and to other
elected leaders.
I can’t imagine that there would be much opposition if Bush could persuade
Blair to replace Wolfowitz. But that option, it seems, is not on the table.