http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110010050

Axis of Soros
The men and motives behind the World Bank coup attempt.
Wednesday, May 9, 2007 12:01 a.m. EDT

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 also made curious use of English by insisting that
Paul Volcker's investigation into Oil for Food had "fully exonerated" Mr.
Annan. In fact, Mr. Volcker's report made an "adverse finding" against the
then-Secretary-General. Among other details, the final report noted that
Mr. Annan was "aware of [Saddam's] kickback scheme at least as early as
February 2001," yet never reported it to the U.N. Security Council, much
less the public, a clear breach of his fiduciary responsibilities as the
U.N.'s chief administrative officer. Mr. Malloch Brown described the idea
that Mr. Annan might resign as "inappropriate political assassination" --
a standard he apparently doesn't apply to political enemies like Mr.
Wolfowitz.

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. This weekend the committee investigating the claims dropped 600
pages in the president's lap and told him he had 48 hours to respond -- in
direct violation of World Bank staff rule 8.01, 4.09, which states that
"the amount of time allowed a staff member to comment [on an investigative
report] ... will not be less than 5 business days." Following protests
from Mr. Wolfowitz's lawyer, the committee gave him 72 hours.

This is the same kangaroo court that last month leaked its guilty
verdict to the Washington Post before Mr. Wolfowitz even had a chance to
plead his case. Our sources who have seen the committee's report tell us
it is especially critical of Mr. Wolfowitz for daring to object publicly
to the committee's methods and thereby bringing the bank's name into
disrepute. The Europeans running this Red Queen proceeding prefer that
they be able to smear with selective leaks without rebuttal.

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. We
hope he's right, though we know few European finance ministers who aren't
eager to throw good money after bad. Still, it's a remarkable bit of
chutzpah for the man who downplayed corruption at the U.N. to seek the
ouster of the man who has fought to reduce corruption at the World Bank.

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.

--
As he backed away from Maryann, away from his rope, away from his
intentions to harm her, and, hopefully, away from his image of himself
as a big, bad dude who could have any "fun" he wanted with a woman,
he started muttering, "Bitches with guns. Bitches with guns. Bitches
with guns." He kept saying it over and over, as his own surprise gave
way to impotent anger, "Bitches with guns. Bitches with guns."
- Lyn Bates, "Bitches with Guns: A Lesson in Reality"