Coalition of the Willing Will Get Contracts in Iraq
Citing national security reasons, U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz has ruled that prime contracts to rebuild Iraq (news - web sites) will exclude firms from nations such as France and Germany that opposed the U.S. war.
In a policy document released on Tuesday, Wolfowitz said he was limiting competition for 26 reconstruction contracts worth up to $18.6 billion that will be advertised in coming days.
"It is necessary for the protection of the essential security interests of the United States to limit competition for the prime contracts of these procurements to companies from the United States, Iraq, coalition partners and force contributing nations," Wolfowitz said in a notice published on the web site www.rebuilding-iraq.net.
The move is likely to anger France and Germany and other traditional allies in NATO (news - web sites) and the U.N. Security Council who are being blocked out of prime contracts after their opposition to the war. They may bid for sub-contracts.
But the decision will placate countries such as Britain, Italy and Spain, which provided troops to Iraq but whose companies were excluded from the first round of deals that went to U.S. firms.
The contracts cover electricity, communications, public buildings, transportation, public works and security and justice. Additional contracts are also being awarded to oversee those projects.
Get the rest of the blurb from Yahoo News.
Matt's Chat
This is as it should be...nothing ventured, nothing gained for our so-called "allies."Mark's Remarks
I could not agree more. What, we are to reward France and Germany for wanting to keep a murderous dictator in charge, in all likelihood because they wanted to collect money on the illegal arms they sold him? Yeah. It is about time that America, the most powerful economic engine on Earth, started holding nations accountable for their positions.
The Libs and Dims out there will say, "this ruins our relationships with other countries." I disagree. It tells other countries that no more will they be rewarded when they side against us. No more will we put up with lip service. If you want our money and want our protection, there needs some quid pro quo. It has only been in times when the United States has shown its greatest strength economically and in defense that we have had the most respect (1980s). At that time, America experienced rapid growth and also put an end to the Soviet Empire, freeing the world from the threat of a superpower nuclear war. However, Libs tend to forget that peace through strength at the negotiating table works. They would much rather us go through the appeasement of the so-called detente of the 1970s, when it has been proven by Soviet records that the Russians were using treaties to gain tactical advantages. Of course, liberals don't like to discuss this. It reveals them for the panderers and appeasing souls they are.
