World Bank's Wolfowitz seeks to defuse Iraq doubts

By Laura MacInnis

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In his second day as
World Bank president, Paul Wolfowitz sought to assuage doubts over his role as one of the architects of the U.S. war in Iraq and said he would use his White House ties to push for development aid.

The former Defense Department second-in-command told a development conference on Thursday the Iraq war was morally justified, in part because of
Saddam Hussein's human rights record.

"Would you really prefer to have Saddam Hussein in power?" Wolfowitz responded when asked whether he had regrets about his role in the war.

He also said the war helped bring democracy to Iraq and the millions of Iraqis who risked their lives to vote in the country's Jan. 30 elections embodied the early benefits of the conflict.

The rest of the story