Canada slams Iraq shut-out
2003-12-10 12:36
Washington - The Pentagon drew criticism from one US ally after formally barring companies from countries opposed to the Iraq war from bidding on 26 lucrative reconstruction contracts.
The ruling bars companies from US allies such as France, Germany and Canada from bidding on those contracts - worth $18.6 billion - because their governments opposed the American-led war that ousted Saddam Hussein's regime.
"If these comments are accurate ... it would be difficult for us to give further money for the reconstruction of Iraq," said Canada's deputy prime minister, John Manley. "To exclude Canadians just because they are Canadians would be unacceptable if they accept funds from Canadian taxpayers for the reconstruction of Iraq."
Steven Hogue, speaking for Prime Minister Jean Chretien, said Canada has contributed more than $190m to the rebuilding effort.
The directive from Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, posted on a Pentagon website on Tuesday, limits bidders to firms from the United States, Iraq, their coalition partners and other countries which have sent troops to Iraq. It says restricting contract bids "is necessary for the protection of the essential security interests of the United States."
The order 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.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon's top general said on Tuesday the US military will not be vulnerable when four of the Army's 10 divisions come home from Iraq to rest and retrain early next year.
Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Richard Myers also asserted that the United States is "clearly" winning in Iraq.
Myers and Defence Secretary Donald H Rumsfeld cautioned, however, that a recent decline in anti-coalition attacks in Iraq may be temporary.
"It's a bit early to call it a trend," Rumsfeld said, adding that he believes more attacks on American troops in Iraq are inevitable.
They spoke on a day when suicide bombers set off explosions at the gates of two US military bases, injuring scores of American troops, most of them slightly. The coalition is increasingly able to thwart such attacks before they happen, Myers said.
"Our ability to gather intelligence and target specifically folks that are in the bomb-making business has gone up dramatically," Myers said. "We have had a real spike up in Iraqis coming forward to provide intelligence.
"This international coalition is not going to let ... the former regime elements that are fighting us win," Myers said. "We're going to win. That's it."
- AP