Wolfowitz -- Wrong Man, Wrong Job

"The Lunch Hour Report"

By: Dr. John W. Luton
Associate Professor ~ Mass Communication
Elizabeth City State University

March 16, 2005

Just the mention of Paul Wolfowitz -- that war hawk who has served as one of President Bush's chief architects of the war in Iraq -- brings to mind a phrase that haunts me: He's the wrong man for the wrong job.

First, the job -- president of the World Bank. While one might wish it were all a joke, Paul Wolfowitz's nomination for the top spot at the World Bank is no laughing matter.

Let's take a quick look at the World Bank's mission statement:

"The World Bank Group’s mission is to fight poverty and improve the living standards of people in the developing world."

The Bank is chartered as a "development Bank which provides loans, policy advice, technical assistance and knowledge sharing services to low and middle income countries to reduce poverty."

Okay, does this really sound like a job for Paul Wolfowitz? Well, let's see -- he has served in the Pentagon in numerous positions. No, that's no good -- the Pentagon's mission is not really about fighting poverty -- just fighting. And that organization doesn't really focus on improving the living standards for people in the developing world.

So, his pentagon experience, including his service as one of Donald Rumsfeld's deputies, doesn't really qualify him for president of the World Bank.

What we do have in Paul Wolfowitz is a slightly more articulate George W. Bush. That, as far as I can see, is Wolfowitz's sole qualification for the job. He thinks like Bush. Frightening, isn't it?

At this morning's White House news conference, Bush made a foggy statement about self-dialogue. While I didn't understand his comment at the time -- I'm used to that -- now that I think about it, it's becoming all too clear.

If Bush continues to surround himself with people who are essentially his clones, his late blooming legacy-seeking agenda has a better chance of accomplishing its purpose: writing in indelible historical ink what the less intelligent half of the American people already believes -- that Bush has been a great president.

You may not be able to fool all the people all the time, but half the people? The chances seem pretty good!

Now the matter rests with the World Bank's 24-member board: what to do with Wolfowitz? My suggestion: Send him any place where he won't have anything to do with making life better for poor people.

Otherwise, be prepared for more nation-building policies that resemble the one in Iraq:

1) Destroy the national infrastructure.
2) Ignore petty concerns like collateral damage.
3) Set up "good ol' boy" American businesses for re-tooling.
4) Fund the whole strategy with tax payer money.
5) Denigrate archaic concepts like "allies" to promote American jingoism.
6) Send in a Wolf (or, a Wolfowitz will do nicely) to care for the flocks or poor and homeless.

And we all know what they'll do with the leftover sheepskins!


Are the 24 members of the World Bank's board too wise to be duped?
I certainly hope so!

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