Wolfowitz & the WorldBank Whitewashes (+Sibel Edmonds, heroin & contraception!)

A few months ago I wrote a post called "Sibel Edmonds & the Neocons' Turkish Gravy-Train" - the premise of which was that Wolfowitz had apparently ordered that a purportedly 'comprehensive' WorldBank report into the global heroin market had been whitewashed of any mention of Turkey, despite Turkey's major role in the heroin industry. Wolfowitz is named in Phil Giraldi's great article about Sibel's case as one of a handful of "noted neoconservatives linked to Turkey" - along with famed traitors Richard Perle, Douglas Feith, Marc Grossman, Eric Edelman and Stephen Solarz.

Of course, Sibel's charges include the corruption of US power-players by Turkish drug interests, or alternatively, that US power-players are key players in the heroin biz, alongside their Turkish counterparts.

As I wrote in my post:

"Turkey is a key player up and down the (heroin industry) value chain - yet the comprehensive 228 page report from Paul Wolfowitz' World Bank essentially ignores Turkey's role using various mechanisms of sophistry and mendacity - just as Sibel predicted.

At least three quarters of all heroin sold in Western Europe comes from Turkey - 4 to 6 tons every month - yet the World Bank report mentions Turkey exactly... once!"

Surely Wolfowitz wouldn't politicize and micromanage World Bank reports, right?

From Nicole Gaouette's article in Thursday's LA Times:

Under beleaguered President Paul D. Wolfowitz, the World Bank may be scaling back its long-standing support for family planning, which many countries consider essential to women's health and the fight against AIDS.

In an internal e-mail, the bank's team leader for Madagascar indicated that one of two managing directors appointed by Wolfowitz ordered the removal of all references to family planning from a document laying out strategy for the African nation. And a draft of the bank's long-term health program strategy overseen by the same official makes almost no mention of family planning, suggesting a wider rollback may be underway.

The World Bank has traditionally championed birth control and other methods of family planning as a key strategy to improve women's health and economic status.
[]
A copy of the report obtained by the Los Angeles Times shows repeated deletions of references to family planning and contraception.

Women's health advocates said the situation was worrisome. "There's mismanagement there," said Carmen Barroso, a regional director for the International Planned Parenthood Federation. "Wolfowitz appointed a guy in a very high position who felt free to censor in line with his personal beliefs. I think that's good grounds for sacking."
[]
The board reportedly met Tuesday to discuss changes made to a draft document that lays out a long-term "Strategy for Health, Nutrition and Population Results." These papers, periodically revised, set bank policy and shape funding.

Overseen by Daboub's office, a draft version raised alarms among some staff members because it contained only one reference to family planning, and that was to a past project.
[]
Yet internal e-mails obtained by the Government Accountability Project appear to indicate otherwise. Referring to Daboub as the "MD," an acronym for his title as managing director, Madagascar country program coordinator Lilia Burunciuc wrote to colleagues on March 8, 2007: "One of the requests received from the MD was to take out all references to family planning. We did that."

Does that process sound familiar?

It's no surprise that ex-Bushies are imposing their 'we love foetuses' agenda at the World Bank and elsewhere, but it ought to raise an eyebrow or two that they are using the same processes to protect Turkey's role in supplying much of the world's heroin. Why on earth are they doing that? Sibel Edmonds knows why, and that's why Henry Waxman should Let Sibel Edmonds Speak.

For more on Wolfowitz' latest scandal re his girlfriend, don't miss Mizgin's "FOR LOVE AND BLOOD MONEY" which ends thusly:

If Wolfowitz was appointed to lead the World Bank in order to facilitate the Pentagon gang's interests in Iraq, then my money says Riza was moved to the State Department not to avoid a conflict of interest at the World Bank, but to keep tabs on the State Department's handling of Iraq for the Pentagon gang. That's the real reason why everyone's making a big deal of this affair.

With the big blood bucks of the war industry on the line in Iraq, the antagonism between the Pentagon gang and the State/CIA gang continues, only this time underground and with a mole--Shaha Ali Riza.

The real scandal here isn't nepotism, per se. The real question is WHY Riza was sent to SAIC/State (working with Liz Cheney) at the request of Douglas Feith (I suspect that it isn't really related to her take-home pay relative to Condi Rice.)

In the meantime, we still haven't heard anything from Waxman's office. I tried to call them yesterday and as soon as I mentioned who I was, the person hung up the phone. I called back immediately and was put through to the same person, and the phone rang out and went to vmail.

If we don't have an answer from Waxman today, we'll work on some new plans over the weekend. Thanks for your support again.

(threads: DU, DKOS)