Hitchens: Lay Off Wolfie!

Unflappable contrarian Chris Hitchens casts a sympathetic eye at beset World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz. Cries for Wolfowitz's resignation have crescendoed since revelations that he had a hand in getting his girlfriend, Shaha Riza, a big promotion at the poverty-fighting organization last year.

Wolfie disclosed his relationship, Hitchens notes in his favor.  And Riza is no ditzy secretary with a sinecure. "Anyone in Washington who cares about democracy in the Muslim world is familiar with her work," writes the self-styled neo-con and acquaintance of the pair. And, above all, doesn't the happy couple deserve their privacy? (More Paul Wolfowitz stories.)