That’s what you get …
…. for not coming to the aid of the US in our hour of need:
The Pentagon has formally barred companies from countries opposed to the Iraq war from bidding on $18.6 billion worth of reconstruction contracts.
A directive from Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz limits bidders on those 26 contracts to firms from the United States, Iraq, their coalition partners and other countries which have sent troops to Iraq.
The ruling bars companies from U.S. 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, dated Friday and posted on a Pentagon web site Tuesday, says restricting contract bids “is necessary for the protection of the essential security interests of the United States.”
Bush administration officials have suggested publicly and privately since before the war started that countries which 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, Maj. Joe Yoswa, said the order does not prohibit companies from the excluded countries from getting subcontracts in Iraq.*snip*
Oh well …