Neo-Con Anti-Corruption Drive at the World Bank Stumbles

[Ser Clegane]

And she apparently doesn’t even pay taxes, since she’s not an American.

This statement looks a bit like odd ... why would not being American absolve her from paying tayes?

[CrossLOPER]

This statement looks a bit like odd ... why would not being American absolve her from paying tayes?

Gift tax rules with respect to expatriates

Nonresident noncitizens generally are subject to gift tax on certain transfers by gift of U.S.-situated property. Such property includes real estate and tangible property located within the United States. Unlike the estate tax rules for U.S. stock held by nonresidents, however, nonresident noncitizens generally are not subject to U.S. gift tax on the transfer of intangibles, such as stock or securities, regardless of where such property is situated.

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/cpquer...sel=TOC_25410&

It's an old link and I probably cited the wrong paragraph. Let me try to find a better one.

[rory_20_uk]

He's President of the World Bank, and he's this inept at nepotism? I don't know whether to be pleased that he's been so honest in the past that this bungling attempt is the best he can do, or worry that he is so thick that even when $200,000 for the job, plus his own if caught necessitates some planning he's still this inept.

If I were in his position I'd have given every member of my family a high paying consultant job counting marbles in the Caribbean - but I hope I'd do a better job at hiding it!

[KukriKhan]

Wolfie already has a wife and three kids.

Divorced in 2002, apparently. But yeah to the rest.

[Xiahou]

Divorced in 2002, apparently. But yeah to the rest.

Oops, makes ya wonder about the "Wonkette's" fact checking doesn't it?

The girlfriend of the married Wolfowitz, Shaha Ali Riza, now earns $193,590 per year from the World Bank

Not that it makes the rest of what's publicly known any better.

[Crazed Rabbit]

Well, can't complain about inaccurate titles.

Sounds like he ought to be fired.

CR

[Ser Clegane]

Try the World Bank.

Thanks a lot for the clarification, Spetulhu

[Spetulhu]

This statement looks a bit like odd ... why would not being American absolve her from paying tayes?

[I]Gift tax rules with respect to expatriates.

It's an old link and I probably cited the wrong paragraph. Let me try to find a better one.

Try the World Bank.

SECTION 9. Immunities from Taxation

(b) No tax shall be levied on or in respect of salaries and emoluments paid by the Association to Executive Directors, Alternates, officials or employees of the Association who are not local citizens, local subjects, or other local nationals.

http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTE...:73154,00.html

[Adrian II]

It seems he created an inner cabal, hijacked the bank and used it as a cash cow for Bush. All shock and no awe, as usual.

Over time, Mr. Wolfowitz created an impression that at critical moments he was putting American foreign policy interests first, most notably when he suspended a program in Uzbekistan after the country denied landing rights to American military aircraft, and directed huge amounts of aid to the countries he once recruited to sign on to Washington’s counterterrorism agenda.

It did not help that he relied heavily on a pair of aides drawn from the Bush administration, Robin Cleveland and Kevin Kellems, who created an inner circle that the bank’s professional staff members said they had great trouble piercing.

link

[doc_bean]

It seems he created an inner cabal, hijacked the bank and used it as a cash cow for Bush. All shock and no awe, as usual.

Over time, Mr. Wolfowitz created an impression that at critical moments he was putting American foreign policy interests first, most notably when he suspended a program in Uzbekistan after the country denied landing rights to American military aircraft, and directed huge amounts of aid to the countries he once recruited to sign on to Washington’s counterterrorism agenda.

It did not help that he relied heavily on a pair of aides drawn from the Bush administration, Robin Cleveland and Kevin Kellems, who created an inner circle that the bank’s professional staff members said they had great trouble piercing.

link

Wasn't that the point of his appointement ?

[Spetulhu]

It seems he created an inner cabal, hijacked the bank and used it as a cash cow for Bush. All shock and no awe, as usual.

Wasn't that the point of his appointement?

Perhaps so, but it's not corrupt to prop up US foreign policy. It's expected that the system works like that. Giving your woman a pay hike is bad since the President didn't order it.

[Adrian II]

Perhaps so, but it's not corrupt to prop up US foreign policy. It's expected that the system works like that.

Only neo-Cons would expect that.

This administration has serious issues. It would be better for all, and even for them, if they were gone yesterday.

[Philippus Flavius Homovallumus]

Corruption is less of a problem than incompetance. A corrupt politician/executive who is also competant makes it so you never notice he's corrupt. I.e. you don't really suffer from his corruption.

[Xiahou]

Over time, Mr. Wolfowitz created an impression that at critical moments he was putting American foreign policy interests first, most notably when he suspended a program in Uzbekistan after the country denied landing rights to American military aircraft, and directed huge amounts of aid to the countries he once recruited to sign on to Washington’s counterterrorism agenda.

Now my memory isn't the greatest, but didn't Uzbekistan deny US military rights in response to criticism from the US of Uzbekistan's human rights record? To me, it doesn't seem that it's too big a leap to think that an aid program would also be suspended for the same human rights abuses. The NYT gets so much wrong, so often, that it's tough to take them seriously.

I'm not looking to defend Wolfowitz, but while we're throwing the rope over the tree branch, let's make sure we've got the right charges. Next we'll be hearing about how he ate babies.

[Adrian II]

And more.

WASHINGTON, Apr 13 (IPS) - Of the top five outside international appointments made by embattled World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz during his nearly two-year tenure, three were senior political appointees of right-wing governments that provided strong backing for U.S. policy in Iraq.

The latest appointment came just last month when former Jordanian Deputy Prime Minister Marwan Muasher was named senior vice president for external affairs.

Muasher served as King Abdullah's ambassador here in Washington in the run-up to the Iraq war in 2002 and reportedly played a key role in ensuring Amman's co-operation in the March 2003 invasion.

During and after the invasion, when he served first as foreign minister and then as deputy prime minister, he was considered among Washington's staunchest supporters in an increasingly hostile Arab world.

Muasher's appointment came nine months after Wolfowitz named former Spanish foreign minister Ana Palacio as the Bank's senior vice president and general counsel. As foreign minister, she was an outspoken proponent of the U.S.-led Iraq invasion, to which her government, led by former Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, contributed 1,500 troops.

Also in June 2006, Wolfowitz named former Salvadoran Finance Minister Juan Jose Daboub as one of the Bank's two managing directors. In addition to his financial post, Daboub served as chief of staff to former President Francisco Flores when, as a charter member of the U.S.-led "Coalition of the Willing", he sent nearly 400 Salvadoran combat troops to Iraq, more than any other developing country.

The fact that Wolfowitz also took with him to the Bank several key right-wing Republican aides -- none with any development experience -- who had worked closely with him on Iraq-related issues while he was at the Pentagon also bolstered that impression.

There have been reports of elaborate off-the-record efforts on Wolfowitz's part, during his tenure at the Bank, to persuade prominent journalists that the administration's pre-war allegations of an operational link between Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda were indeed true.

It is in that context that Wolfowitz's appointments of non-U.S. individuals who were not already working for the Bank to top posts appear significant.

"I believe that Paul Wolfowitz has used his tenure in part to reward those governments and individuals who were particularly helpful to the U.S. in the Iraq War," said Steven Clemons, director of the American Strategy Programme of the New America Foundation, who has closely followed Wolfowitz's career on his much-read blog, www.thewashingtonnote.com.

link

[Adrian II]

I'm not looking to defend Wolfowitz, but while we're throwing the rope over the tree branch, let's make sure we've got the right charges.

Yes, let's. Does it strike anyone else as odd that Riza was given a secondment with the U.S. State Department where she worked to further American policy under Dick Cheney's daughter while receiving an exorbitant salary out of an international public budget?

[Tribesman]

Now my memory isn't the greatest, but didn't Uzbekistan deny US military rights in response to criticism from the US of Uzbekistan's human rights record? To me, it doesn't seem that it's too big a leap to think that an aid program would also be suspended for the same human rights abuses. The NYT gets so much wrong, so often, that it's tough to take them seriously.

If that were the case , then woudn't there be matching suspensions of aid for those other countries in the region who also got the same human rights criticisms from the US but didn't revoke their military assistance .
So that isn't the case is it. In fact they got a boost for the aid programs at the time when Uzbeck got its suspended .