Wolfowitz placates critics

He has telephoned Bono, the Irish rock star who champions the cause of Africa8217;s poor. He has granted interviews to French newspapers, p...

He has telephoned Bono, the Irish rock star who champions the cause of Africa8217;s poor. He has granted interviews to French newspapers, planned visits to European officials and praised his prospective staffers.

Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, the man tapped by President Bush to become president of the World Bank, is energetically reaching out to his critics in the hope of persuading them that he would do a lot better at heading the bank than they might think. He appears to be making progress. But as the neoconservative hawk best known as the brains behind the war in Iraq, he has his job cut out for him.

Since the announcement on Wednesday, Bush8217;s choice of Wolfowitz has drawn opposition from many quarters, mostly focusing on the fear that the move marked a plan to use the World Bank8217;s anti-poverty aid to reward Washington8217;s friends, punish its enemies and advance the Bush administration8217;s agenda, especially in the Middle East. It lends about 20 bn a year to developing nations for projects ranging from schools to HIV/AIDS programs. 8216;8216;The world would view a bank directed by Mr Wolfowitz as no more than an instrument of US power and US priorities,8217;8217; UK8217;s Financial Times opined.

With antiglobalisation activists in an uproar over the nomination, predictions abounded that demonstrations against the bank 8212; which have subsided in the past couple of years 8212; would erupt anew. 8216;8216;We8217;ll finally be able to use the word 8216;imperialism8217; about bank policy without raising eyebrows,8217;8217; chortled Soren Ambrose, an activist.

Futile though it might be to win over his most fervent detractors, Wolfowitz is striving to dispel some concerns. He has stressed that he attaches prime importance to the bank8217;s goal of fighting poverty, which he called 8216;8216;both a noble mission and a matter of enlightened self-interest.8217;8217;

He will be an 8216;8216;international civil servant,8217;8217; he vows, accountable to the board of the bank8217;s 184 member nations. He has dismissed suggestions of plans for 8216;8216;regime change,8217;8217; telling France8217;s Le Figaro: 8216;8216;Many people think I will turn the organisation upside down, but this is not my style at all.8217;8217; 8216;8216;Believe me 8212; I am not coming with any political programme or a ready criticism of the bank.8217;8217; 8212; LAT-WP