Mistrust of U.S. Could Keep Iraq Pledges Low

[Spazito]

WASHINGTON, D.C., Oct 23 (IPS) -- The United States' bid to get international donors to bankroll the occupation and reconstruction of Iraq (news - web sites) might be derailed by Washington's own alliance with corporations and its continuing unilateralist foreign policy.

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Various advocacy groups and foreign officials oppose policies that have so far favored U.S. corporations for reconstruction projects, while ignoring Iraqi firms, and marginalized the Iraqi people.

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Most of the $20 billion pledged by Washington, part of the $87 billion package requested by the Bush administration from Congress for military operations and reconstruction, will finance business deals involving U.S. companies, making the sum appear as a handout to American corporations.


To date, the distribution of such lucrative deals has happened behind closed doors in Washington; U.S. officials cite security justifications for assigning many of the rebuilding contracts to U.S. companies rather than opening them to competitive bidding.

more

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=655&e=7&u=/oneworld/4536712171066997477

(One of the more honest articles on the donor conference, imo)

[democrat in Tallahassee]

1. If W want to help resign

If W really wants to help he should promist to resign

If he wants to save American soldiers lives

Get other nations to participate

and help repair the image that his "Bite Me" foriegn policy has done

all he would have to do is announce to the world that he realizes now he was wrong and that in order to defend peace and harmony in the world that he was going to resign and give the job to the rightful winner of the last election.

The world would rejoice and money and help would start flowing to Iraq