Wolfowitz's New Job Turns Him Into Iraq War's Invisible Man

Wolfowitz's New Job Turning Him Into Iraq War's Invisible Man
By William McQuillen
Dec. 7 (Bloomberg)

Paul Wolfowitz's role as the architect of the Iraq war is shaping up to be one of the great disappearing acts in Washington.

Wolfowitz has kept a relatively low profile since leaving the Defense Department six months ago to run the World Bank, the largest financer of projects in poor countries. He has made about a half-dozen public appearances in the U.S., forgone official visits to Congress and stayed clear of one-on-one news interviews.

This is at a time when the former colleagues who helped him construct the Iraq invasion have been grilled before investigative commissions and criticized in opinion polls.

``Getting out of the public spotlight, maintaining low visibility is part of the effort to remove the public image'' of Wolfowitz's role in starting the war, says Stephen Wayne, a professor of government at Georgetown University in Washington.

The World Bank presidency gave Wolfowitz a pulpit for cultivating humanitarian concerns and a mechanism for shedding a villainous image growing out of Michael Moore's 2004 critical documentary about the war, ``Fahrenheit 9/11.''

In his few appearances since taking over the World Bank in June, Wolfowitz has traveled to Africa, spoken out against corruption, advocated greater trade liberalization as a way to reduce poverty and helped solidify an agreement to write off as much as $57.5 billion in debt for impoverished countries.

``He is no longer connected in people's minds to what is going on in Iraq,'' Wayne says. ``He is not resurrecting himself -- he is invisible.''

Working Quietly

Washington is starting to get a glimpse of a new Paul Wolfowitz as he returns to the domestic public forum with two speeches over six days, embracing his new cause -- fair trade for poor countries.

In a speech in New York last week on World Trade Organization talks, Wolfowitz said his responsibility is to those who ``do not have a representative at the table.'' He's scheduled to speak to journalists at the National Press Club today.

In addition to advocating trade laws that allow developing nations to compete, Wolfowitz, 61, has already presided over his first joint meeting of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, which produced the debt relief agreement.

``It is much better'' to avoid discussing Iraq, said Norman Ornstein, a fellow at the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute. The way to move forward, ``is not to immediately embroil your name in controversy, but to work quietly to fulfill your mission to the bank.''

A New Mission

Wolfowitz needed to spend his first few months traveling to developing nations and learning about the bank's projects, rather than making appearances in the U.S., said Kevin Kellems, a spokesman for Wolfowitz. His recent appearances are a result of the heightened importance of recent WTO trade talks, he said.

Kellems said Wolfowitz has no problem discussing Iraq, though developing countries are more concerned about how the bank can help them than on decisions to go to war.

``Different institutions have different missions, and in his current job as president of the World Bank, the mission is poverty reduction,'' Kellems said. ``When he went to Africa'' and met with locals, ``not one of them mentioned Iraq.''

Still, Wolfowitz can't separate himself completely from Iraq as the World Bank will have to be instrumental in helping rebuild the country once the violence is contained.

The World Bank estimated in December 2003 that Iraq would need as much as $35.8 billion in reconstruction aid from 2005 through 2007. As of September 2005, the bank had financed only $156.8 million in projects and allocated $366 million more through a trust set up with the United Nations, World Bank documents show.

Standing Out

As deputy defense secretary, Wolfowitz became most identified with the U.S.-led Iraq war, advocating the toppling Saddam Hussein, helping Bush craft a rationale for the invasion, and once opining that the U.S. would be greeted by Iraqis as a liberator.

More than 2,100 U.S. servicemen have died in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion, as have hundreds of civilian contractors, as insurgents use roadside bombs, grenade launchers and other methods to disrupt military and humanitarian operations.

``Some things he has done in the World Bank have been newsworthy in the sense of changing his image -- his trip to Africa stands out,'' said Stephen Schneck, head of the politics department at Catholic University, based in Washington. ``It's not in keeping with the image he had with the government.''

Moving Forward

A Time magazine poll last week showed that 47 percent of Americans say the U.S. should withdraw most troops from Iraq within the next 12 months. The Nov. 29-Dec. 1 poll found that only 38 percent approved of Bush's handling of the war. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's job performance met with the approval of 35 percent and Vice President Dick Cheney's rating was 32 percent. The survey didn't gauge opinions about Wolfowitz.

While Wolfowitz doesn't shy away from defending the war when asked, he rarely mentions Iraq in public appearances. The day after taking his post, Wolfowitz told a crowd of development and humanitarian organizations that they should ``move forward,'' and not dwell on the war.