Remaking The World In His Image, One Entity At A Time

George Soros is possibly the worst enemy of freedom, democracy, and conservative values to grace this world in many a year. With a billion dollars at his disposal, he has played a pivotal role in changing the face of American politics by funding the far left organizations that now control the Democratic party. Across the Atlantic, he is organizing the European Council on Foreign Relations, an organization that will no doubt seek to imprint his philosophy on the EU and EU nations. He is using his money to reshape the Western political world in his distorted image.

Having said all that, let's switch gears to the World Bank and the move to unseat Paul Wolfowitz as Chairman. The whole fiasco surrounding Mr. Wolfowitz is well documented. The facts read like a very bad movie script. Mr. Wolfowitz agrees to take over as head of the World Bank with full disclosure that his paramour works there. He asks to be recused from all personnel decisions regarding her, but the request is refused by the ethics committee who instead outline a plan for her to be transferred to a different job with additional compensation for her lost opportunities. Mr. Wolfowitz fully complies. Mr. Wolfowitz then begins a campaign against corruption - followed shortly thereafter by charges that he violated ethics rules in regard to the transfer of his paramour.

So what is the intersection of Paul Wolfowitz and George Soros? The Wall Street Journal suspects that it is the hand of George Soros behind the World Bank inquisition to unseat Mr. Wolfowitz. As they explain:

Mark Malloch Brown spoke Monday to a crowded auditorium at the World Bank's headquarters, warning that the bank's mission was "hugely at risk" as long as Paul Wolfowitz remained its president. Only hours earlier, news leaked that a special committee investigating Mr. Wolfowitz had accused him of violating conflict-of-interest rules. A coincidence? We doubt it.

Mr. Malloch Brown, remember, was until last year Kofi Annan's deputy at the United Nations. In that position, he distinguished himself by spinning away the $100 billion Oil for Food scandal as little more than a blip in the U.N.'s good work, and one that had little to do with Mr. Annan himself. Last week, Mr. Malloch Brown was named vice president of the Quantum Fund, the hedge fund run by his billionaire friend George Soros. A former World Bank official himself and ally of soon-to-be British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Mr. Malloch Brown would almost surely be a leading candidate to replace Mr. Wolfowitz should he step down. Not surprisingly, Gordon Brown cold-shouldered Mr. Wolfowitz at a recent meeting in Brussels.

The bank presidency would be a neat coup for Sir Mark, and not just because the post has heretofore gone to an American. He also stands for everything Mr. Wolfowitz opposes, beginning with the issue of corruption. Consider Mr. Malloch Brown's defense of the U.N.'s procurement practices.

"Not a penny was lost from the organization," he insisted last year, following an audit of the U.N.'s peacekeeping procurement by its Office of Internal Oversight Services. In fact, the office found that $7 million had been lost from overpayment; $50 million worth of contracts showed indications of bid rigging; $61 million had bypassed U.N. rules; $82 million had been lost to mismanagement; and $110 million had "insufficient" justification. That's $310 million out of a budget of $1.6 billion, and who knows what the auditors missed.

. . . Mr. Malloch Brown never made any serious attempt to reform the U.N. beyond the cosmetic, while doing everything he could to block the real reforms proposed by Americans Christopher Burnham and former Ambassador John Bolton. He was, however, energetic when it came to lecturing Americans about what they owed the U.N., such as joining the "reformed" Human Rights Council (whose only achievement to date has been to castigate Israel), pursuing a "new multilateral national security," and otherwise empowering the likes of Mr. Malloch Brown, his multilateral mates and their tax-free salaries.

Views like these help explain why Mr. Malloch Brown is in such favor with Mr. Soros, who has publicly suggested the U.S. will need a "de-Nazification" program to erase the taint of the Bush Administration. So close are the two that Mr. Malloch Brown lives in a suburban New York home owned by Mr. Soros. Mr. Malloch Brown says he pays market rent, though reporting by the New York Sun's Benny Avni disputes that. In any case, it's safe to assume that Mr. Soros's widely published views are close to Mr. Malloch Brown's somewhat more guarded ones.

So it's not surprising that many on the World Bank staff would cheer Mr. Malloch Brown: He's perfect for an institutional culture in which "progressive" thinking goes hand-in-glove with a tolerance for corruption. That culture has been on vivid display in the Euro-coup against Mr. Wolfowitz.

. . . Mr. Malloch Brown warned on Monday that, if Mr. Wolfowitz stayed as president, European countries might withhold funding from the next financing round for the bank's International Development Association.

. . . If the Bush Administration now abandons Mr. Wolfowitz as he faces a decision from the bank's board of governors, it will not only betray a friend but hand the biggest victory yet to its audacious enemies in the George Soros axis.

Read the entire story here. This is one where the Bush administration needs to stand solidly behind Mr. Wolfowitz. Further, one hopes that, with his position secured, Mr. Wolfowitz will start taking a much closer look at the personnel decisions to be made inside the World Bank. The stench emenating from the World Bank Headquarters is palpable. A thorough house-cleaning seems wholly in order.