Anwar Ibrahim, Paul Wolfowitz & Shaha Ali Reza

Remember my post How sweet is it (1) where I remarked that Anwar Ibrahim’s good friend, Paul Wolfowitz - ultra neocon Zionist (though minus the steroids), architect of the Iraqi invasion - has fallen on his own sword of an anti-corruption drive in the World Bank. He has been forced into resigning because of his cosy sweetheart deal for his sweetheart – a shameful case of cakap ta’serupa bikin (double standards), as might be expected of a neocon Zionist.

And not only that, but his war-mongering notoriety has been so repulsive that Europeans have told him he, the president of the World Bank would not be welcome at a World Bank forum (for Africa)!

I couldn’t help sticking it in further by saying what further insult could beat that, when the president of a World Bank has been snubbed and told not to appear at a forum for which his organisation has sponsored.

Then, perhaps out of compassion ;-) for Wolfowitz, now severely ostracized by most of the world, I suggested that perhaps Anwar Ibrahim could, if he becomes PM of Malaysia after the next general election (as he continues to aspire to), give his good friend a job, say, as an adviser on international finance.

Lo and behold, before I could complete spelling ‘ostracized’, malaysiakini reported that Anwar Ibrahim is in damage control over allegations that he, as chairperson of the Foundation of the Future, was involved in the appointment Shaha Ali Reza, the girlfriend of Wolfowitz. Reza is the woman at the centre of the dodgy controversy that has cost Wolfowitz his World Bank job.

malaysiakini reported that Anwar was alleged to have written to Robin Cleveland, Wolfowitz’s counselor at the World Bank, requesting for Reza to be transferred from the US State Department to the Foundation.

The transfer raised Reza’s salary by 36%, from US$133,000 (RM452,000) to US$193,590 (RM659,000). Lots of lollies!

On the domestic scene, the world’s most famous SIL is now tearing into the world’s most famous political reformer – god, aren’t we Malaysians just lucky when we have so many ‘world most famous personalities’ to help fill up our Book of Records.

Yes, KJ has demanded that Anwar clarify his relationship with Wolfowitz, and explain his motive in helming* the foundation.
* any statistician out there who can help me determine how many times malaysiakini has used this word (helm) instead of ‘head’, ‘lead’, chair’, command’, or even nautical ones like ‘skipper’, ‘captain’, etc
But Anwar has threatened to take action against anyone who persists in suggesting he had been responsible of Reza’s transfer to the Foundation, because he claimed that Reza was first assigned by the World Bank through the US State Department to the foundation in late 2005 before he became chairperson in mid 2006.

However, he added that the executive committee of the foundation then decided in mid-2006 to regularise the appointment so that Reza advises directly from the World Bank and not the US State Department.

Then Anwar said: “From the onset, the foundation obtained pledges of US$56 million, and thus far only received funds from Turkey, UK and Jordan, while the US has not disbursed any funds to the foundation.”
But according to the Washington Post, the US State Department contributed almost two-thirds of the foundation's $56 million budget.

Well …….. Anwar said the US hasn't but the US State Department declared it has, with 2/3 of the budget. I am not sure who is right, but never mind!
Now, this is another part that doesn’t jell with Anwar’s clarification, namely the date of appointment. The Washington Post (WP) has this to say:
“Riza moved to the foundation in December 2006 to become senior adviser to its executive committee and board of directors, according to documents released yesterday by the World Bank."
So, according to the WP, Reza moved to the Foundation in December 2006 but Anwar said it was late 2005. The WP quoted documents released by the World Bank. But hey, the World Bank's documents could be, must be wrong!
"A letter dated Oct. 1, 2006, from Anwar Ibrahim, the foundation's chairman, to Robin Cleveland, Wolfowitz's counselor, said that if Riza moved from State to the foundation, she would recruit staff, supervise the hiring and training of senior management in the Middle East, identify programs to receive grants and supervise the implementation of policies on programs, finances and administration. The Bank concurs with this proposal," Cleveland handwrote on Dec. 14, 2006."
Again, according to the WP, it was Anwar who wrote the letter requesting for Reza’s transfer to the Foundation on 01 Oct 2006, more than 2 months before Reza moved to the Foundation. Of course KTemoc prefers to believe our own Malaysian rather than foreigners (huh ... WHAT!!!).
Yahoo News quoting The Nation also supported the WP news, but it stated more than just the date of Reza’s appointment to the Foundation. It went on to describe the chummy relationship between neocon Zionist Wolfowitz and Anwar Ibrahim, as follows:
"Over a year later, on October 1, 2006, Anwar Ibrahim, chairman of the Foundation for the Future, wrote Robin Cleveland, a senior Wolfowitz aide at the Bank, and requested the transfer of Riza from the State Department to the Foundation for the Future. Two months later, after Cleveland instructed the Bank's vice president of human resources to approve the transfer, the Bank okayed the switch."
"The Anwar letter and other Bank documents related to this transfer did not mention that Anwar is a longtime friend of Wolfowitz. One of Asia's most prominent Muslim politicians, Anwar was a former deputy prime minister of Malaysia. He and Wolfowitz met and developed a friendship in the mid-1980s, when Wolfowitz was U.S. ambassador to Indonesia, according to Aasil Ahmad, an adviser to Anwar."
"In 1998, after addressing a rally protesting the government, Anwar was arrested and subsequently jailed on corruption and sodomy charges. During his years in jail, Wolfowitz was an outspoken champion of Anwar. Shortly after the 9/11 attacks, Anwar, while still imprisoned, wrote an essay condemning the attacks and calling on the Muslim worked to address the suffering inflicted on the Muslim masses in Iraq by its dictator."
"... to address the suffering inflicted on the Muslim masses in Iraq by its dictator."

Hmmm, doesn't this smell a bit like 'regime change', an excuse that the Bush Administration, with its chief architect Wolfowitz, had cooked up as its casus belli for war against Iraq after the WMD scare (or lie) turned out to be a dud.

We know that since then hundreds of thousands of Iraqis had perished, and millions have been dislocated. The country is in an utter shamble, with civil war virtually now in place.
Now this is the confusing bit:
"While helping to establish the Foundation for the Future at the State Department, Riza had recruited Anwar to serve as its initial adviser, according to Ahmad. The two then went about selecting a board of directors and drawing up the mandate for the group, which calls on the foundation to "advance and strengthen freedom and democratic trends and practices" in Middle Eastern and North African nations by supporting reform, media, human rights, and women's groups in those countries."
So, according to The Nation, Reza recruited Anwar Ibrahim to serve as its adviser [I wonder where Wolfowitz was then], and subsequently Anwar …… you work it out.

My head is spinning at those western media reports. There are far too complicated for poor KTemoc.