The
World's
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Petition to Fire Paul Wolfowitz

Dear friend,

I just joined in signing a petition calling for Paul Wolfowitz to be fired.
Please join me in signing: http://www.avaaz.org/en/sack_wolfowitz The petition will be sent to the global media and the World Bank board as soon as we reach 50,000 signatures--and sent again every time we add another 50,000.

The initiative was organized by Avaaz. More information can be found below.
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Dear friend, Paul Wolfowitz -- President Bush's key architect of the Iraq war, now president of the World Bank and self-styled fighter of corruption -- was just caught red-handed in a corruption scandal of his own. He pushed a huge pay raise for his girlfriend, and hid the facts from his organization and the world.

This is the last straw. He's got to go.

The World Bank's board, made up of our governments from around the world, is now deciding whether Wolfowitz should keep his job. An immediate, massive, and global outcry could make the difference. Our petition is three words long: "Sack Paul Wolfowitz." Sign it here:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/sack_wolfowitz

When Paul Wolfowitz was a top official in President Bush 's Department of Defense, he was one of the Iraq war's biggest backers. When the war became fiasco, instead of firing Wolfowitz, Bush gave him a promotion--to president of the World Bank. At the Bank, he alienated his employees and the world with a domineering, rigid, and unilateral style that, critics charged, undercut the Bank's efforts to fight poverty.

His biggest focus was corruption. But now we've learned that he didn't practice what he preached.

Wolfowitz's girlfriend was a senior World Bank employee. When he became President, the Bank's ethics rules would not allow him to keep her on staff under his supervision. So he transferred her to the US State Department--but kept her on the Bank's payroll, and gave her a US$60,000 pay raise. Her salary rose to US$193,590, higher than Condi Rice's. What's more, it appears that Wolfowitz hid the evidence of what he'd done.

Fighting corruption is a key to ending poverty. But there can't be one standard for the rich and powerful and a different one for everybody else.

The World Bank Staff Association and the Financial Times have both called for him to resign. Now it's our turn to weigh in.

The 24-member board of the World Bank, which uncovered Wolfowitz's corruption through a special investigation, is currently deliberating about his fate. Bush has announced that he wants him to stay. Global public opinion could tip the balance--which means it's all up to you.

Click here now to sign the petition, and then send this email to ten friends: http://www.avaaz.org/en/sack_wolfowitz Wolfowitz claimed the Iraq war would spread democracy, but it sparked a civil war. He promised to fight corruption, but engaged in it himself.

He talks a lot about accountability. It's time to bring some accountability to Paul Wolfowitz.

With hope,

Ben, Ricken, Hannah, Lee-Sean, Tom, and the rest of the Avaaz team

PS: Read the Financial Times editorial here: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/18b3bad0-e914-11db-a162-000b5df10621.html