Bush administration officials are leaning toward reversing a ban on bidding by French, German and Russian companies for U.S.-financed contracts in postwar Iraq, administration aides said yesterday.
The disclosure follows President Bush's announcement Tuesday that he would allow bids by companies based in Canada, which had been among the countries blacklisted by an administration policy that opened bidding only to nations that had joined the U.S.-led coalition in the Iraq war.
_____Iraq Contracts_____
•
Japan Alters Stance on Iraq Debt (The Washington Post, Dec 30, 2003)
•
U.S. Decisions On Iraq Spending Made in Private (The Washington Post, Dec 27, 2003)
•
In Reversal, Russia Agrees to Discuss Debt Relief for Iraq (The Washington Post, Dec 19, 2003)
•
Europeans Seek More U.S. Defense Work (The Washington Post, Dec 18, 2003)
•
France and Germany Agree To Help Reduce Iraqi Debt (The Washington Post, Dec 17, 2003)
•
Bush Defends Barring Foes Of War From Iraq Business (The Washington Post, Dec 12, 2003)
•
U.S. Decision on Iraq Contracts Irritates Excluded War Critics (The Washington Post, Dec 11, 2003)
•
Only Allies to Help With Rebuilding (The Washington Post, Dec 10, 2003)
_____Opinion & Commentary_____
•
Rebuilding Iraq: Who Gets the Job? (The Washington Post, Dec 14, 2003)
•
Boomerang Diplomacy (The Washington Post, Dec 12, 2003)
|
| |
_____News from France_____
•
Bottled Buzz (The Washington Post, Jan 25, 2005)
•
Mining Their Own Business (The Washington Post, Jan 23, 2005)
•
News Reports Emphasize Religious Tone of Inaugural Speech (The Washington Post, Jan 21, 2005)
•
Airbus Unveils the Massive A380 (The Washington Post, Jan 19, 2005)
•
Bioterrorism War Game Shows Lack Of Readiness (The Washington Post, Jan 15, 2005)
•
More News from France
|
| |
|
That announcement, which Bush made in Mexico beside Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin at the Summit of the Americas, was one of the few times the administration has publicly conceded error in its Iraq policy.
Officials said the decision on France, Germany and Russia was not final, and said no announcement is imminent.
The release of the Dec. 5 memo outlining the policy reopened diplomatic wounds that had begun to heal since the run-up to the war. Several major U.S. allies complained that the Pentagon was branding them a security risk when they were being asked to help fund postwar operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The administration immediately began backtracking, and pointing out ways that companies in blacklisted countries could still bid. The policy applies only to prime contracts, not subcontracts, and only to construction contracts, not to contracts for services.
Officials said national security adviser Condoleezza Rice had spoken by telephone with her French counterpart, Maurice Gourdault-Montagne, and pointed out that French companies are eligible to bid for prime contracts on non-construction services.
Alcatel, a French telecommunications giant, and Siemens, a German electronics firm, are already working in Iraq as subcontractors.
A senior official said the White House has always said the contracting policy could change as circumstances change, and the countries are being given credit for their pledges to postwar Iraq.
The administration has pointed to Bush's lunar and Mars exploration plan as an example of ways that the United States wants to work with former adversaries.
"The president has always tried to stress that there are areas where we're going to disagree, but that's not going to prevent us from being able to pursue a common agenda elsewhere," a senior administration official said. "Where he's said the most about that is probably about Germany, and the efforts that they're providing in Afghanistan. He deeply appreciates that."
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld had signaled Tuesday that the administration planned to give flexibility to several of the countries on the list. He declined to name them. "There were three or four I saw on the list as the interagency [group] was working this," he said.
