And He's Sorry

He's gonna be sorrier before it's all over.

Didn't take Wolfowitz long to get in trouble at his new job.

[World Bank] President Paul Wolfowitz acknowledged Thursday that he erred in helping a close female friend get transferred to a high-paying job, and said he was sorry.

His apology didn't ease concerns among the bank's staff association, which wants him to resign.

[...]

The White House, however, expressed confidence in the embattled bank president.

  Yahoo article

That's a tune we've heard many times before - the White House having confidence in its confidence men.

What does the White House's confidence count for these days?

It seems the old combsucker has a girlfriend, who was among his subordinates at the World Bank. And he got her a real nice job. Which upset the other employees at the World Bank. So word got out, and now Wolfie has to answer.

"In hindsight I wish I had trusted my original instincts and kept myself out of the negotiations," Wolfowitz said. "I made a mistake, for which I am sorry."

Hey, at least he didn't use the normal politician's passive voice: "mistakes were made". But yes, he's mostly sorry the Bank's Staff Association found out.

President Bush appointed Wolfowitz, a main architect of the Iraq war when he served as deputy defense secretary. His appointment [in 2005] was greeted with protests by international aid and other groups, and some worried he might use the bank to help America's allies and punish its enemies.

[...]

"Of course President Wolfowitz has our full confidence," said White House spokesman Tony Fratto. "His leadership is helping the bank accomplish its mission of raising living standards for poor people throughout the world.

Never mind that the living standards of the poor right here in the U.S. are steadily going south, there are more than a few countries who disagree about that mission......

When President Franklin Delano Roosevelt ended direct US imperial involvement in Latin America with his Good Neighbor policies, the proponents of predatory capitalism needed another means for the continued exploitation of the region. Hence came the formation of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank.

[...]

These “international lending institutions” would first loan funds to developing nations with money contrived out of thin air. Next the developing countries were expected to pay back these loans with very real capital generated by their labor and exportation of natural resources. Don’t forget that all payments had to be made with interest. Over the years developing nations would be strongly encouraged to borrow more and more until it became impossible to recover from the ever-accruing debt.

It was nothing new for the banking dynasties instigating the scheme.

  Narco News article

See also: Argentina defaults on loan to World Bank

.....not to mention, at least one former international financial consultant.

But, back to Wolfowitz' troubles...

Wolfowitz — who took the bank's helm on June 1, 2005 — asked for "some understanding" of his position in the controversy.

"Not only was this a painful personal dilemma, but I also had to deal with it when I was new to this institution, and I was trying to navigate uncharted waters," he said.

  Yahoo article

Tell it to the Marines.