US president calls French, German, Russian leaders by phone

[Purveyor]

US President George W. Bush called French President Jacques Chirac, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder to talk about Iraqi debt, White House officials said.

The US decision to exclude corporations from countries that opposed the US-led war on Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq from bidding on any of the reconstruction projects was also discussed, a White House spokesman said.

France, Russia and Germany led the opposition to the war.

The calls were aimed at asking the leaders to welcome James Baker, the special US envoy on Iraq's debt, the spokesman said.

In Paris, a spokesman for Chirac said that the French president will meet Baker next week.

Bush last week named Baker, a former secretary of Treasury and State and a presidential confidant, to try to get countries to forgive debts owed by Saddam's regime of up to 120 billion dollars.

The decision to call the foreign leaders was taken ahead of the announcement on who could bid for the reconstruction contracts, the White House said.

Bush spokesman Sean McCormack said the president "has indicated that he would keep the channels opened" with Chirac, Putin and Schroeder.

[La_Serpiente]

1. link?

[Purveyor]

2. link...

damn...it's late! http://sg.news.yahoo.com/031211/1/3gkxk.html

[aquart]

3. Wow. Three trips to the woodshed.

Bet George really wants a drink right now.

[keopeli]

4. HAHA! Good one, aquart. Bush* should be grovelling much, much more. NT

[Purveyor]

5. Bet George really wants a drink right now.

They continue to scare me...with "their supidity"...

[Lorien]

6. Oh geez...and this happens right after

reading this:

BAKER TAKES THE LOAF
The President's Business Partner Slices Up Iraq
by Greg Palast
www.TomPaine.com
Monday, December 8, 2003


Well, ho ho ho! It's an early Christmas for James Baker III.

All year the elves at his law firm, Baker Botts of Texas, have been working day and night to prevent the families of the victims of the September 11 attack from seeking information from Saudi Arabia on the Kingdom's funding of Al Qaeda fronts.

It's tough work, but this week came the payoff when President Bush appointed Baker, the firm's senior partner, to "restructure" the debts of the nation of Iraq.

And who will net the big bucks under Jim Baker's plan? Answer: his client, Saudi Arabia, which claims $30.7 billion due from Iraq plus $12 billion in reparations from the First Gulf war.


PUPPET STRINGS

Let's ponder what's going on here.

We are talking about something called "sovereign debt." And unless George Bush has finally 'fessed up and named himself Pasha of Iraq, he is not their sovereign. Mr. Bush has no authority to seize control of that nation's assets nor its debts.

More:http://www.tompaine.com/feature2.cfm/ID/9571

[salinen]

7. Hell no!

"Those Frenchies can sit on this. They wouldn't even be a country if we hadn't bailed them out in WW11. And Germany, what do those miniture hitlers want? Give those commies nothin."

What I expect the conversations to be in Freeperville.

- If you don't go along with the killing machine and become murdering bastards, then you don't get the spoils. So murder with us without dissent, and you'll learn how properous it is to side with U.S.A.

[ConcernedCanuk]

24. "if we hadn't bailed them out in WW11" - - hmm does anyone remember

. . CANADIANS lost one MILLION soldiers fighting that war

- the USA was one of the LAST to put their toenils in that war

. . and it was a vengence thing (duh) only after Pearl Harbour happenned did the States get involved in WW2 (2 years after the war started)

. . it should be no surprize that the USA only get's involved in a war if $$$ are at stake -

well - OIL too - (another duuh)

[cosmicaug]

8. BAKER TAKES THE LOAF

You don't think the Saudis are going to get the phone call about forgiving Iraqi debt? It will be interesting to see.

[DoYouEverWonder]

17. The Saudis & the Kuwaitis don't have to worry

Their share of Saddam's debt was taken care of in the $87 billion Congress just approved to 'rebuild' Iraq. What I don't get is why is the US concerned with paying debts incurred by Saddam anyway?

However, W sure gave France, Germany and Russia the double wammy. Not only are you not going to get paid back for the money Saddam owed you, you're not going to get any of those lucrative rebuilding contracts either. W must be strutting like the king of the roost this morning, all puffed up and proud of himself for screwing our allies again.

[hadrons]

19. Baker can PINCH a loaf, as far as I'm concerned

[whirlygigspin]

9. all I can say is

:wow:

[this_side_up]

10. How many times has

someone here asked the question: Just how stupid
are they?? They are inane, inept etc.


Since they keep repeating their same old behavior,
it must be because they choose to do so.


So I think that they believe everything is going
as planned and that they are doing very, very well.

[cliss]

11. How would like to get that phone call?

Bush: Yes, Can I talk to Gerhard Schröeder?
Schröder: Yes, that's me.
Bush: Oh, well I just want to tell you that you can't have any contracts for rebuilding of Iraq.
Schröder: Oh, and why is that?
Bush: Well, you and Chirac were against this war. This is our way of getting revenge on you and Jacques for being little renegades. We needed your support.
Schröder: Well, France had oil contracts with Saddam. Since you invaded the country, those contracts are now worthless.
Bush: Oh, speaking of contracts, that's why I'm calling.
Schröder: what about?
Bush: Well, we want you to cancel those contracts. And we want you to cancel all the debts that Iraq owes you.
-click-
Bush: hello, hello?

[Skip Intro]

12. Well thank God the channels are open

between the US and France and Russia and Germany. What a great leader to secure a proud place in the world for the US - even keeping channels open to such insignificant junior countries like Russia, Germany and France.

Every voter in the US, every citizen over 15, should be forced to read DU for a week - every article in LBN at least. This extremely dangerous, fraudulent regime wouldn't stand a chance if people knew the truth. Or just the surface of the truth.

[PennyLane]

14. People are blind!

I also post on a local message board that has righties on it as well
as the enlightened liberals! I'm telling you that it wouldn't matter if Bush called them up and told the truth himself, they are too blind to believe it! They only watch FOX and they don't believe the facts
when you hit them in the head with 'em! If you link them to a NYTimes
story, they diss the Times. You quote JudicialWatch.com, they never
heard of it. They act like Stepford wives!!!:*

[no_hypocrisy]

13. Link to NY Times article

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/11/international/middleeast/11PREX.html?hp

[Media_Lies_Daily]

15. And hidden within the article is the following:....

"Why is our President so concerned with the wishes of Mr. Baker's clientele? What does Bush owe Baker? Let me count the ways, beginning with the 2000 election.

Just last week Baker said, I fixed the election in Florida for George Bush. That was the substance of his remarks last week to an audience of Russian big wigs as reported to me by my somewhat astonished colleagues at BBC television."

You know your enemies are powerful when they publicly tell you what they've done to you.

[KoKo]

27. There's always been the possibility in my mind that Baker, not Cheney

was the REAL P-Resident. He's so powerful and has such ties to the Bush's that it's hard to rule out that his influence could be so pervasive that he's the true "Shadow Government." Or, the true "Puppet Master." Juggling the PNAC Crowd, Oil and Corporate Interests all from his silent position behind the Bushes...literally behind the bushes.

[Voltaire99]

16. And the substance of the phone call?

"No excuse-ee old loanees, no get-ee new Iraq contract-ees!"

With Baker on the case now, too, we can be sure the US is enjoying the finest extortion services to be found anywhere on the planet.

[cthrumatrix]

18. the press should start with Baker defending the Saudi Royals on the 911

class action suit...now that would be a nice 60 Minutes segment.

Maybe connect the dots for the folks on business ties with the Bush's and Bin Laden's.... lol.

"Come sheeple..... go see Michael Jackson on Faux"

[hadrons]

20. did Dumbya hear 'fuck you' in three different languages???

[TheLastMohican]

25. He didn't. They are all ruling elite in the same boat.

Trying to screw the poor. It works the same way in any country. They were only discussing how to twist it to look natural to real patriots back at home in France, Germany and Russia.

[Snellius]

21. Oh, no, they're all going to get Floridized

Baker puts the hard in hardball. Now the BFEE thinks it can strongarm the rest of the world like it did the Democrats in Florida.

[Patriot_Spear]

22. At some point, Europeans are going to get fed up with their leaders...

...who won't stand up to the US, and replace them with those that will.

[LeftHander]

23. Two left feet - Dumbass Administration Damage control

Yeah, sure they planned to call. What Bullshit! It is last minute damage control. Wolofwitz is a loose cannon and Dumbsfeld is a jackass.

These two have done more to alienate the US from allies then anyone in history.

[Gin]

26. Is the greg Palast article true where Baker brags about fixing Florida?

if so....should we send this out to tv and news outlets?

[Zero Gravitas]

28. Debt

I hope they told the stupid bastard to f**k off!

I hope that the international community shuns the US Iraq effort completely. Why? because our actions must have consequences, and since Bush's invasion of Iraq is one of the most mind boggingly irresponsible act ever commited by a U.S. President, the consequence for the USA must be sever. The bigger the financial crunch at home this causes the better, then the brain-dead, propagandized "its all about me" US public (especially the ones who actually voted for *) might start to wake up and vote this scum out of office next November.