WSJ turns the firehose on World Bank's Ad Melkert

One of the leaders of the World Bank's bloodless, groundless coup against Paul Wolfowitz was Dutch supranational bureaucrat Ad Melkert. At the time, the WSJ vowed to turn a "firehose" on the World Bank's unethical connivers.

Well, Mr. Melkert's role in the new UNDP Cash-for-North-Korea scandal is coming to light. Looks like Melkert has threatened to "retaliate" against the United States for investigating a possible cover-up of how UNDP money in North Korea was spent, and how much of it went illegally to Kim's regime. Splash time! Subscription required, but here's a taste:

...as Mr. Melkert knows, the U.N. Board of Auditors found that the UNDP repeatedly violated its own rules until it pulled out of North Korea this spring. It hired staffers selected by the North Korean government and paid their salaries directly to Pyongyang; it disbursed large amounts of cash in foreign currency; and it inspected only a small fraction of its projects, which may or may not even exist. The auditors, who were barred from traveling to North Korea, were careful to note that they were unable to follow the money trail. That is, they had no way to know whether, as Mr. Melkert blithely asserts, the UNDP's funds "were used for development purposes."

The bottom line is that no one knows how much money the United Nations has actually spent in North Korea, or where it went. ...

Mr. Melkert has been obstructing the investigation of the UNDP's operations in North Korea since he slow-walked the initial U.S. inquiries last year. It took nearly a year of U.S. questioning before he conceded that the UNDP office in Pyongyang had possession of counterfeit U.S. dollars....

Yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed an amendment redirecting $20 million in U.S. contributions away from the UNDP -- a reduction for which the U.N. can thank Mr. Melkert's stonewalling antics. Congress won't continue to finance an outfit whose No. 2 official is so hostile to America.