Wolfowitz: It keeps getting better...

In a government of incompetent fascists, Paul Wolfowitz has always stood out from the crowd as a shining example of cynical intellect dedicated to the propagation of evil in the world (starting with his work, for all you Cold War Democrat nostalgia buffs, as a staffer to Henry Jackson). His latest scandal is a fantastic and fascinating example of the Bush Administration at its best - as soon as you start to poke at it, it starts getting truly bizarre in a hurry. And you know what? Nothing is going to get done about it.

Bush foisted Wolfowitz off onto an unwilling World Bank in early 2005, where he has dedicated his time to promoting the World Bank as an instrument of American influence. Much of that effort has revolved around a ham-handed focus on government corruption - a huge problem in much of the developing world, and a delicious irony coming from a career neocon. Then, last week, Wolfowitz got caught in a corruption scandal of his very own.

Devilstower has already laid out basic outline of the story thus far: Wolfowitz's girlfriend, one Shaha Riza ended up getting transferred, allegedly to the State Department, with a 50% pay raise (personally ordered by Wolfowitz) to roughly $200,000, tax free, which is more than Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice makes. This is only one of at least three identified examples of personal corruption during Wolfowitz's time at the World Bank, but it is the one that has casued the most consternation.

And here is where it gets truly weird. Steve Clemons has pointed out that nobody at the State Department seems to be able to describe what Riza actually does, or identify an address where she actually, physically, works. Here's a clip from the Friday State Department gaggle:

QUESTION: I wanted to ask you something kind of on the margins of the whole World Bank Shaha Riza matter, and that is that, as you remember, Secretary Rice announced the formation or at least the launch of this Foundation for the Future in, I think, November of 2005. And at least as far as -- well, it's very hard to find this foundation. You go to their website. They have a website but there's no phone numbers, there's no address. They appear to have not given out any grants. They haven't set up office, that at least one can find. And considering it was launched with some fanfare at the time, I'm just curious if you could bring us up to speed a little bit as to what this foundation consists of and where you -- where it seems to be going. I don't even -- it's hard to see how much money it is that the U.S. has put into this, for one.

MR. CASEY: Neil, I actually haven't, unfortunately, briefed myself on the latest activities from the Foundation. Look, as you know, this was something that has emerged out of the Forum for the Future process. It has an international board of directors representing -- with representatives from most of the participating regional countries there as well as an executive directorate. In terms of the amount of money involved at this point and some of the specific grant programs, I'll have to look into it for you. I just don't have that at my fingertips. Sorry.

QUESTION: Are you taking the question?

MR. CASEY: Yes, I'm taking the question.

QUESTION: But is Ms. Shaha a consultant or a fulltime employee of the board? What is her status?

MR. CASEY: My understanding is she is an individual seconded by the World Bank as an advisor to the board of directors of the Foundation for the Future.

QUESTION: But she's not on the board?

MR. CASEY: No.

QUESTION: So her official title is advisor or consultant?

MR. CASEY: My best understanding is advisor to the board, yeah.

QUESTION: So what does she do as the advisor? I mean, does she help advise on grants, or do you know what her job is?

MR. CASEY: I do not have a job description for her, no. Again, I think that's a question you could ask some of the board members.

QUESTION: Do you know where the office is?

MR. CASEY: No, but I don't know where the office is for a number of parts of the State Department offhand, Matt. So I will get you -- I will get you guys more information.

QUESTION: Isn't there an agreement for the office to be based in Beirut?

MR. CASEY: I'd have to check. I honestly don't know the details on the specifics of the foundation.

So, what the hell does the Foundation for the Future actually do, anyway? Weeeell, that's a little difficult to figure out. Based on the initial Department of State puff piece from 2005, it looks like a Liz Cheney operation - a $56 million Bush foreign policy propaganda effort, funded mostly by the US and its buddies in Qatar and Bahrain, to

...support civil society organizations in their efforts to foster democracy and freedom in the broader Middle East and North Africa.

If you are feeling masochistic, you can get a flavor of the mindless mendacity of this little enterprise from a summary (pdf file) of a recent meeting at (I just love unintentional irony) the Dead Sea last December. But the really interesting part is that there is no real information about what these guys actually do, and no information at all on the State Department website past July 2006, shortly after they talked Sandra Day O'Conner into joining the board (O'Conner, unsurprisingly, has been unavailable for comment the last few days).

Our story picks up again in January, when Foundation for the Future finally started their own website, an amateurish effort that is surprisingly devoid of any useful information about anything, including a physical address or phone number. But the website does allow us to get something that the State Department appears incapable of finding (one wonders where they send Riza's paycheck) - an address and phone number:

Domain ID:D127637212-LROR

Domain Name:FOUNDATIONFORFUTURE.ORG

Created On:22-Aug-2006 17:12:20 UTC

Last Updated On:13-Jan-2007 00:22:51 UTC

Expiration Date:22-Aug-2012 17:12:20 UTC

Sponsoring Registrar:Network Solutions LLC (R63-LROR)

Status:CLIENT TRANSFER PROHIBITED

Registrant ID:40342401-NSI

Registrant Name:BMENA Foundation for future

Registrant Organization:BMENA Foundation for future

Registrant Street1:1350 Connecticut Ave

Registrant Street2:Suite 1000

Registrant Street3:

Registrant City:Washington

Registrant State/Province:DC

Registrant Postal Code:20036

Registrant Country:US

Registrant Phone:+1.2022347370

Registrant Phone Ext.:

Registrant FAX:

Registrant FAX Ext.:

Registrant Email:nstormer@hotmail.com

Admin ID:40342401-NSI

Admin Name:BMENA Foundation for future

Admin Organization:BMENA Foundation for future

Admin Street1:1350 Connecticut Ave

Admin Street2:Suite 1000

Admin Street3:

Admin City:Washington

Admin State/Province:DC

Admin Postal Code:20036

Admin Country:US

Admin Phone:+1.2022347370

Admin Phone Ext.:

Admin FAX:

Admin FAX Ext.:

Admin Email:nstormer@hotmail.com

Tech ID:40342401-NSI

Tech Name:BMENA Foundation for future

Tech Organization:BMENA Foundation for future

Tech Street1:1350 Connecticut Ave

Tech Street2:Suite 1000

Tech Street3:

Tech City:Washington

Tech State/Province:DC

Tech Postal Code:20036

Tech Country:US

Tech Phone:+1.2022347370

Tech Phone Ext.:

Tech FAX:

Tech FAX Ext.:

Tech Email:nstormer@hotmail.com

Name Server:DNS11.REGISTER.COM

Name Server:DNS12.REGISTER.COM

I'd love to hear from anybody in DC who cares to go find out what is actually, physically, at 1350 Connecticut Avenue, Suite 1000. The Washington Post has identified it as the Stimson Center, a "think tank". Foundation for the Future's unhelpful website does mention that this is just a branch office, and that the plan is to set up a permanent office, Real Soon Now, in...ready?...Beirut.

Commenters on the Steve Clemons story have pushed this noodle forward a little, identifying the address, phone number, and lone staffer identified on the Foundation for the Future website as identical to another shadowy enitity with a not-exactly-identifiable mission, the Eurasia Foundation, which is funded by US AID.

But the FAQ page of the Foundation for the Future website explicitly says that the Foundation has no ties to the US, or any other country:

Is the Foundation for the Future officially affiliated with any governments? No. The Foundation is an independent, indigenous organization. No Board member may be an active member of any government.

So, what exactly is going on here? Riza is, yet is not, an employee of the US Government. It looks like the World Bank is sending money to the State Department to pay Riza $200,000 per year, tax-free, to do unspecified work for what appears to be an off-book money-laundering operation for the State Department. Wolfowitz fans will recall that this was essentially the same money-laundering strategy that was used to fund the terrorist campaign against Nicaraugua in the 1980's, with hilarious links to (can you stand it?) Iran. Sheesh. These guys never learn.

So, what's going to happen? Nothing. But boy, sometimes it's sure fun to watch.

billmon has this to add:

OK, now put this together with Sy Hersh's recent reporting on covert CIA support for anti-Hezbollah Sunni militia groups in Lebanon. Then go back and look a little more closely at the Iran-Contra scandal, and the use of nonprofit false front foundations both to steer money to the contras AND provide sinecures for various neocon hangers on. Get the picture? That's the thing about the neocons -- when they find something that doesn't work, they stick with it.