A rchive Date
[ 11-12-2003 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ U.S ]
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[http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2003/12/11/284219-ap.html
U.S. appears to soften policy in diplomatic dust-up over Iraq contracts
Thu, December 11, 2003
WASHINGTON (CP) - More countries may be allowed to bid on billions worth of big Iraq contracts, U.S. officials said Thursday amid a swirling diplomatic dust-up that continued to irritate the very countries Americans are courting for help.
But it wasn't clear from official statements how Canada, France, Germany, Russia and others would get on a special Pentagon bidding list and observers lambasted President George W. Bush for barring them at all and then appearing to blackmail them.
The timing couldn't have been worse. The list, which excludes countries that opposed the war, was published Tuesday on a Pentagon website, just a day before Bush was scheduled to talk to some of those world leaders about forgiving billions in Iraq debts.
Bush, who's still sending special envoy James Baker next week on a trip to oversee debt relief, said forgiving loans would be "a significant contribution for which we would be very grateful."
The contentious Pentagon memo said restricting bids was necessary for "essential security interests," suggesting the countries posed some sort of risk to the U.S.
Senator John Kerry called it an "enormous mistake" and "counter-productive."
"It borders on the stupid," said Kerry, a Democratic presidential candidate. "It is the exact opposite of what we should be doing to get these countries back to the table."
Former top U.S. officials also blasted the administration, calling the policy everything from "bizarre" to "ill-timed" and "misplaced." A couple portrayed it as a "small political setback."
"I think it's petty," said Madeleine Albright, a former secretary of state. "I really do think we should not be in the business of alienating people."
Bush and others stood by the decision to favour 63 countries, saying they publicly supported the U.S. from the start or risked their troops in the war.
However, there was broad speculation an exception would be made for Canada. Prime Minister Jean Chretien said Bush told him in a morning telephone call that "he would be taking action."
Canada had committed about $300 million Cdn to Iraq and has 2,000 soldiers in Afghanistan in the anti-terrorism fight.
On Wednesday, officials suggested that military participation in Iraq was the only way for any other countries to bid on $18.6 billion US in American-financed reconstruction contracts.
They broadened that approach Thursday, although officials wouldn't clarify whether forgiving debt or giving aid money would be enough to warrant new membership in the club.
"I don't have precise criteria at this moment but we've made it clear we're willing to take into account what other people do," said State Department spokesman Richard Boucher.
"It's not fixed in stone . . . We'll just have to see how circumstances might change."
Said White House spokesman Scott McClellan: "If countries want to join in the efforts going on in Iraq, the coalition efforts and the efforts by the Iraqi people, we look forward to discuss ways that they can do that, and circumstances can change."
A Pentagon spokesman said any country could get on the list simply by saying it wanted to be a coalition member, in other words voicing support for U.S. policy in Iraq.
French President Jacques Chirac, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Russian President Vladimir Putin all raised the contracting issue during previously scheduled telephone calls with Bush on Wednesday.
Paul Martin, who takes over as Canada's prime minister Friday, said the policy was difficult to fathom.
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan echoed some European leaders, saying it was "unfortunate" and "not unifying" at a time diplomats were seeking to rebuild an international consensus on Iraq.
The European Commission called the contract ban a "political mistake" said it would examine the contracts to see if Washington had violated commitments to the World Trade Organization.
In France, the conservative newspaper Le Figaro said Thursday the exclusion was "bordering on provocation."
"For the United States, it is truly a shame that the politics of George W. Bush be presented, once again, in such a petty manner.
"The anti-Americanism that needs to be combatted is going to be revived."
The Canadian American Business Council sent a letter Thursday to U.S. Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, who wrote the controversial memo, to complain about the ban.
"The U.S. Iraq policy defies the spirit, the shared vision and the economic logic upon which the Canada-U.S. trade partnership is based," said executive director Scotty Greenwood.
The developments, said former Canadian diplomat Paul Frazer, are a vivid illustration of the work ahead for Martin as he tries to improve Canada-U.S. relations.
"I think Martin would see this as a very important reminder that it's always a boiling kettle in Washington," said Frazer.
"He needs to show from the top down that we want different approaches and we want this thing to work."
 World Fact Book (CIA)]
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