more on Iraq bidding - Old Europe starts to chime in
from
Yahoo/AP
bq. BRUSSELS, Belgium - Across Europe, response was swift and angry Wednesday to the U.S. order barring firms based in important allied countries — opponents of the Iraq war — from bidding on Iraqi reconstruction projects.
bq. Russia suggested it would not restructure Iraq's debt. Canada threatened to stop sending aid to Baghdad. The European Union said it would study whether global trade rules had been violated.
bq. Germany, another leading opponent of the war, called the decision "unacceptable," and government spokesman Bela Anda said it went against "a spirit of looking to the future together and not to the past."
bq. Critics said the policy could discourage countries from helping to rebuild Iraq and complicate American efforts to restructure Iraq's estimated $125 billion debt, much of it owed to France, Germany, Russia and other nations whose companies are excluded under the Pentagon directive.
bq. "Iraq's debt to the Russia Federation comes to $8 billion and as far as the Russian government's position on this, it is not planning any kind of a write-off of that debt," Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov told reporters.
And this debt comes from these countries selling Iraq ordnance and components to manufacture chemical weapons. The Oil-for-Food program was a joke - the majority of the supplies shipped to Iraq wound up in Baath party warehouses.
We are talking about wiping the slate clean so the Iraq people do not have to start with the debt incurred by Saddam.
President G.W. Bush
said it best:
bq. Iraq is moving toward freedom, stability and prosperity. In order to support this effort, I am pleased to announce today that in response to a request from the Iraqi Governing Council for assistance, I have appointed James A. Baker III to be my personal envoy on the issue of Iraqi debt. Secretary Baker will report directly to me and will lead an effort to work with the world's governments at the highest levels with international organizations and with the Iraqis in seeking the restructuring and reduction of Iraq's official debt.
The future of the Iraqi people should not be mortgaged to the enormous burden of debt incurred to enrich Saddam Hussein's regime. This debt endangers Iraq's long-term prospects for political health and economic prosperity. The issue of Iraq debt must be resolved in a manner that is fair and that does not unjustly burden a struggling nation at its moment of hope and promise. James Baker's vast economic, political and diplomatic experience as a former Secretary of State and Secretary of the Treasury will help to forge an international consensus for an equitable and effective resolution of this issue.
(emphasis mine)
Posted by DaveH at December 10, 2003 3:52 PM