WASHINGTON, Dec. 9 -- The Pentagon has barred French, German and Russian companies from competing for $18.6 billion in contracts for the reconstruction of Iraq, saying the step "is necessary for the protection of the essential security interests of the United States."
The directive, which was issued by the deputy defense secretary, Paul D. Wolfowitz, represents perhaps the most substantive retaliation to date by the Bush administration against American allies who opposed its decision to go to war in Iraq.
This, reported by the NYT, is assured to convince our allies who opposed the war to help us.
I mean, along with efforts like this that are guaranteed to win the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people, how can Bush possibly be viewed as losing the war in Iraq?
I haven't a clue what Bush thinks he's doing, but whatever it is, it seems half-cocked and doomed to fail. I feel so badly for our troops. They haven't been this mistreated by an administration since Vietnam.