It had been rumored for several weeks and now CNN is confirming that George W. Bush is nominating…. the lightning rod of lightning rods… Paul Wolfowitz to head the World Bank. Wolfowitz is a man who has been condemned for being, of all things, an idealist – worse, an idealist who seems these days to have been right. For a while he looked like the ultimate version of “No good deed goes unpunished.” Now he’s proposed to president of the World Bank. Good for Bush.
UPDATE: IMF support for Wolfowitz. And from The Guardian:
Reports from Washington indicated that Mr Wolfowitz’s nomination had not gone down favourably with European directors. Reuters reported that Mr Wolfowitz’s name was circulated informally among board directors several weeks ago and was rejected.
But Mr Wolfowitz has precedent on his side as no nomination has ever been rejected.
Lest we forget, the fuddy duddies at The Guardian remind us:
Robert McNamara, the US secretary of defence when America sank into the Vietnam quagmire, was president of the World Bank from 1968 to 1981.
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