Bush defends administration policy on contract work in Iraq
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush, under fire from allies, said Thursday that countries which sent troops to Iraq should be entitled to share in the $18 billion in American-financed reconstruction projects while other nations are shut out.
President Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell speak with reporters in the Cabinet Room of the White House.
By Ron Edmonds, AP
Bush's policy effectively excludes countries such as Russia, France, Germany and Canada.
The president, at a Cabinet meeting, said he still hoped that Russia, France, Germany and others would agree to forgive Iraq's crushing debt burden. (Related audio: Bush: Nations should share to rebuild Iraq)
"It would be a significant contribution for which we would be very grateful," Bush said, talking with reporters at the end of a Cabinet meeting at the White House.
But Bush appeared to make a sharp distinction between countries that sent troops to Iraq and those that didn't.
<font size=4>
"What I'm saying is, in the expenditure of the taxpayers' money ... the U.S. people, the taxpayers, understand why it makes sense for countries that risked lives to participate in the contracts in Iraq. It's very simple. Our people risked their lives, friendly coalition folks risked their lives and therefore the contracting is going to reflect that."
<font size=3>
Yet Canadian officials suggested Bush had backed down in a conversation Thursday with Prime Minister Jean Chretien.
"(The president) told me that the mention of Canada in some press that we were to be excluded from economic activities in Iraq was not appropriate and that he was telling me basically not to worry," Chretien said.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan refused to confirm or deny that account.
"The purpose of the president's call was to wish him well as he leaves office. That was the purpose of the call. The president obviously did discuss the topic you bring up with him, and like he said to other leaders, there'll be open lines of communication on this, we'll be glad to discuss these issues with you, and that's where it was left."
<font size=4>
Sen. John Kerry, campaigning in his home state of Massachusetts for the Democratic presidential nomination, said, "I think limiting contracts ... is an enormous mistake. I think it borders on the stupid."
<font size=3>
In a series of telephone conversations Wednesday, Bush talked with the leaders of Russia, France and Germany to ask them to forgive Iraq's debts. He said he would be sending former Secretary of State James A. Baker as an emissary to talk about Iraq's debt relief. The leaders used the conversations to air their concerns about the contracting policy.
Baker will visit Russia, Britain, France, Italy and Germany.
The White House sought to refocus the debate on Iraq's multibillion-dollar debt load.
"The whole restructuring debt issue is an important priority for the Iraqi people," presidential spokesman Scott McClellan said. "We all share the same goal of helping the Iraqi people build a better and brighter future, and they should not be saddled with the debt of a brutal regime that was more interested in using funds to build palaces and build torture chambers and brutalize the Iraqi people."
Baker leaves Monday for the trip, which McClellan characterized as "an initial fact-finding mission." It will bring him back before the holidays, the spokesman said.
McClellan had reiterated earlier Thursday that the administration had no intention of rethinking the policy, but said that Bush "made it very clear that we would keep the lines of communication open."
URL:http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2003-12-11-bush-cont... |
