Wolfowitz: Deals No Longer On The Table

Paul Wolfowitz should have resigned weeks ago, and the longer he's holding desperately onto an untenable position, the more painful his departure is going to be, both for him and for the USA. Steven Weisman reports today that no one's really interested in doing deals any more:

There had been talk in recent weeks of an arrangement in which Mr. Wolfowitz would be offered the option of resigning in return for some kind of resolution saying he acted in good faith in the handling of a pay and promotion package for Shaha Ali Riza, his companion. But on Thursday it appeared too late for such language to be included in any resolution to be adopted next week.
European officials have encouraged the United States to go along with Mr. Wolfowitz’s ouster in return for a promise that President Bush could continue the tradition of the United States picking the next president. But that possibility has not been seized by the administration in its talks with the bank.

It's worth noting that the Europeans are incredibly reluctant to force a board vote on Wolfowitz. They don't want to anagonize their allies, the Americans, and they don't want to damage the Bank more than it has been damaged already. But the intransigence being shown by both Wolfowitz and the Bush administration is forcing their hand. A sad state of affairs, indeed.