European knives sharpen for Wolfowitz

Despite American attempts to separate consideration of Paul Wolfowitz's rule breaking from any decision over whether or not to fire him, European nations are forging ahead, taking a very hard line against the leader of the World Bank.

The US, in a conference call with leaders from the Group of Seven, convinced only Japan to agree to their proposal with even Canada joining the European governments, including Britain and Germany, in opposing the US move, leaving Mr Wolfowitz's fate in the hands of the bank's powerful executive board.

It now appears as if the writing is on the wall for Wolfowitz and even the White House are now accepting the inevitability of his removal from the organisation.

Sources close to the board last night suggested the most likely outcome, within the next few days, was a statement of "no confidence" in Mr Wolfowitz's presidency and a call for his resignation, followed by a period to allow Mr Wolfowitz to voluntarily step down.

If Mr Wolfowitz refused to do so, he could then be fired by the board - although there is some confusion within the bank whether the board's vote would be conducted by simple majority of its 24 members or weighted by shares.

The failed US attempt came after the White House signalled it was prepared to throw in the towel over Mr Wolfowitz's tenure, in an abrupt U-turn from its earlier position.

The Bush administration yesterday declared that "all options were on the table". The White House press secretary, Tony Snow, told journalists: "This has been a bruising process. You've got to figure out how you maintain the integrity of the institution and how you handle its stewardship going forward."

Earlier a senior White House official told ABC News that "it is an open question" whether Mr Wolfowitz should remain as president. "If you don't have board support and you don't have staff support, it is hard to get anything done," the official said.

Incredibly, the White House are still trying for a formulation where the World Bank declare that Wolfowitz acted in good faith, and had made some kind of honest mistake, but it's hard at this stage to see any way in which that kind of deal is going to prove possible.

The World Bank has already declared that Wolfowitz acted as if the rules did not apply to him, so it's hard to see how they can now come up with a formulation that is pleasing to the White House.

Even more damning evidence is emerging of Wolfowitz's way of dealing with people who insist that he play within the rulebook.

Yesterday evening Mr Wolfowitz met with the board to address a damning report by an internal panel of investigators published on Monday night. It concluded he had acted improperly in rewarding Ms Riza during negotiations over her secondment outside the bank in order to avoid regulations barring couples from working together.

The official investigation found that Mr Wolfowitz rode roughshod over bank rules and violated his own contract. In testimony by one key witness, Mr Wolfowitz threatened to expose other senior bank officials. "If they fuck with me or Shaha, I have enough on them to fuck them too," he was reported as saying by Xavier Coll, the bank's head of human resources.

This is a perfect example of the neo-con mindset that has dominated Washington for the past six years. Rules are for other people and, if you try to tie these people down to your rules, you are fucking with them and they will fuck you too.

This is why I always refer to the current administration as thugs, because they really do operate within a Mafioso mindset. It is the language of the street. They understand and adore only brute force and power. Negotiation and diplomacy are lost on such people, indeed, they probably regard such qualities as weak and sissy.

Domination is the only language that they deal in.

Unfortunately for them, they are now dealing with what Rumsfeld has referred to as "old Europeans", people for whom negotiation is an art form. Nor are they weak and sissy as the neo-cons would presume. These are people who have run Empires, they have - in their time - controlled huge swathes of the globe. But, unlike these neo-con thugs, they have learned to hide their knives within velvet gloves.

And their knives are now out for Wolfowitz. The neo-cons can threaten all they like, Bush can berate and make all the demands he wishes, he can say how much he has confidence in Wolfowitz until the cows come home, but the "old Europeans" are circling Wolfowitz, and my money is going on them taking him down.

The Bush administration is about to be taught a lesson in the art of diplomatic killing.

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