|
|
| |
War critics lose out on $18.6bn Iraq
bonanza
WASHINGTON - The good
news for multinational companies is that over the next
few days the United States will advertise 26
reconstruction contracts for Iraq worth up to US$18.6
billion.
The bad news is that nations such as
France, Russia, Canada and Germany, which opposed the
US-led war on Iraq, will be precluded from the bidding,
according to Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz,
who cited national security reasons.
In a
three-page document released on the Pentagon site on
Tuesday, Wolfowitz said that he was limiting the
competition for 26 reconstruction contracts: "It is
necessary for the protection of the essential security
interests of the United States to limit competition for
the prime contracts of these procurements to companies
from the United States, Iraq, coalition partners and
force contributing nations," Wolfowitz was quoted as say
in the report.
The decision is sure to upset
France and Germany and other traditional allies in the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the UN
Security Council who are being blocked out of prime
contracts because of their opposition to the war.
They may, however, bid for subcontracts. And
these can be lucrative. For example, Siemens AG, the
German industrial giant, won a $95 million subcontract
from US construction giant Bechtel last month to build a
turbine plant in northern Iraq. The company already had
about $50 million worth of subcontracts. Bechtel is the
biggest contractor in Iraq, with an estimated $1billion
contract to rebuild infrastructure. The other major US
contractor is Kellogg, Brown & Root (KBR), a
subsidiary of the oilfield services company Halliburton.
US Senator Joseph Biden of Delaware, the top
Democrat on the influential Senate Foreign Relations
Committee, said in a statement that the restriction on
certain countries was a "totally gratuitous slap that
does nothing to protect our security interests and
everything to alienate countries we need with us in
Iraq". He said that even as the Bush administration was
asking for support from NATO members for peacekeeping
efforts in Iraq, "we stick a finger in the eye of those
whose help we have been seeking".
On the other
hand, the move will help placate countries such as
Britain, Italy and Spain, which provided troops to Iraq
but whose companies were excluded from the first round
of deals for the rebuilding of Iraq that went to US
firms. They have made widespread public complaints that
US giants Bechtel and Halliburton have won
reconstruction contracts worth hundreds of millions of
dollars, and the US has not given similar opportunities
to companies from allied nations.
The contracts
up for grabs cover electricity, communications, public
buildings, transportation, public works and security and
justice. Additional contracts are also being awarded to
oversee those projects.
Wolfowitz, it appears,
is hoping that excluded companies will put pressure on
their governments to join the post-war effort. "Limiting
competition for prime contracts will encourage the
expansion of international cooperation in Iraq and in
future efforts," wrote Wolfowitz in the document.
The document, dated December 5,
lists more than 60 countries eligible for contracts
funded by the $18.6 billion appropriated by Congress to
rebuild Iraq. The list included Britain, Australia,
Poland, Japan, Italy, Norway, Spain, Turkey, Jordan,
Egypt, South Korea, the Philippines, Romania and Saudi
Arabia.
(Copyright 2003 Asia Times Online Ltd.
All rights reserved. Please contact content@atimes.com for
information on our sales and syndication policies.)
|
| |
|
|
 |
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
