Free Republic

<p>Perini Corp., a Massachusetts construction company partially owned by the investment firm of California Sen. Dianne Feinstein's husband, landed a $500 million contract Friday to repair southern Iraq's electricity grid.</p> <p>Perini is one of several American firms mobilized to restore Iraq's electricity under a series of contracts issued by the Pentagon this week. On Friday, Washington Group International won a $500 million contract to restore power in northern Iraq.</p>

<p>U.S. to Open Iraq Contracts to Germany, Handelsblatt Reports Jan. 22 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. will allow German participation in $5 billion worth of contracts to rebuild Iraq, the Handelsblatt business newspaper reported, citing unidentified U.S. government officials.</p> <p>German companies will be permitted to bid for orders to rebuild Iraq's electricity network, water supply and transport systems, the paper said in an advance release of a story in tomorrow's edition. Along with those of other countries that didn't join the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq, German companies were excluded from an initial batch of contracts worth 18.6 billion euros ($23.6 billion), Handelsblatt said.</p>