No Iraq contracts for anti-war countries
The US has formally barred companies from countries opposed to the Iraq war from bidding on more than €14.25 worth of reconstruction contracts.
A directive from Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz limits bidders on those 26 contracts to firms from the United States, Iraq, their coalition partners and other countries that have sent troops to Iraq.
The ruling bars companies from allies such as France, Germany and Canada from bidding on the contracts because their governments opposed the American-led war that ousted Saddam Hussein’s regime.
The Wolfowitz memo says restricting contract bids “is necessary for the protection of the essential security interests of the United States.”
Officials in President George Bush’s administration have suggested publicly and privately since before the war started that countries that opposed the United States on Iraq would be cut out of at least some of the lucrative rebuilding contracts administered by Washington.
The order from Wolfowitz covers contracts to manage the entire rebuilding effort, train and equip the Iraqi National Army and rebuild infrastructure including roads, sewers, power plants and oil fields.
Wolfowitz wrote that the restrictions would encourage other countries to join the coalition in Iraq. A Pentagon spokesman, Major Joe Yoswa, said the order does not prohibit companies from the excluded countries from getting subcontracts in Iraq.
Canadian Deputy Prime Minister John Manley said the Pentagon statement was “quite shocking.”
“Given the urgings that I have received from US officials, it would be very hard for us if they said Canadian companies cannot contribute. It would be difficult for us to give further money for the reconstruction of Iraq,” he said.
France said it is studying the legality of the US move.
