Barred from Iraq Contracts
By Andrew L. Jaffee, December 10, 2003
Posted on 12/10/2003 6:17:57 PM PST by forty_years
| Poor Baby Axis of Weasel Barred from Iraq Contracts By Andrew L. Jaffee, December 10, 2003 |
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The U.S. today barred Axis of Weasel countries (like Russia, Canada, France, and Germany) from bidding on $18.6 billion in contracts for rebuilding Iraq. These countries all opposed the U.S.-led coalition's liberation of Iraq. It seems only reasonable for U.S. taxpayer money to be spent on countries that support the U.S. in bringing democracy to the Middle East. French, Canadian, Russian, and German soldiers aren't being killed in Iraq now. Remember how vociferously these countries defended Saddam? Why should they be rewarded for trying to prop up one of the most heinous dictatorships in world history?
The Axis of Weasel didn't oppose the Iraq war for humanitarian reasons. Some of its member nations were making billions by selling weapons to Saddam and/or participating in the U.N.'s infamous "oil-for-food" program (which also helped prop up Saddam). I don't want my tax dollars going to any companies in Russia, Canada, France, and Germany. Barring them from capitalizing on rebuilding Iraq is just good business sense: reward your friends and punish your enemies.
In true business spirit, the Bush Administration said today that countries can increase their chances of getting reconstruction contracts by providing the U.S. with more help in Iraq. It’s pretty simple. When I do business, I don't sign contracts with people I despise, don't trust, or whom I've had bad experiences with in the past.
I have no problem rewarding countries that have supported the U.S., like Azerbaijan, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, the Netherlands, the UK, and the Ukraine. These countries know how to pick a winner. Long-term, they know that appeasing terror -- as the Axis of Weasel would do -- is much more dangerous than facing it head on.
France, Germany, et. al., have a simple choice: get with it and fight for the survival of civilization or continue placating the terrorists. Unfortunately, they don't see it as a simple choice. They're too wrapped up in fear of their own Muslim populations and of Muslims elsewhere in the world. They're trying to maintain some semblance of their former colonial influence. They're hoping they won't get shut out of world economic growth. I'm not sure if they'll make it.
The Darwinian forces driving social, cultural, economic, and political evolution will not be kind to those countries that fail to adapt. Those forces favor the U.S. and its allies, especially in the former Soviet Republics that have fresh memories of tyranny but are now tasting new economic and political freedoms. Perhaps countries like Germany, France, and Canada spent too many years being shielded from evolutionary forces by the military might of the U.S. Maybe they just had it too good and got soft.
One more thing: I don't buy any products from Axis of Weasel countries. As far as I'm concerned, netWMD's Proclamation of Concern and Intent: Boycott of German, French, and Belgian Products still stands. Talk is talk, but the buck stops here.
Click on the above link to see the real price we have paid and continue to pay!
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