Irak contracts exclusions are not so much about punishing...

[Capt_Nemo]

...France and Germany, but to keep SPAIN, DENMARK, PORTUGAL and ITALY, among other european states, from
breaking away from the coallition in the event the current right wing
goverments are thrown out in new elections. (Denmark may not be eager to
get that money but the others are and companies would pressure
any gov. to keep the troops there)

I realized that while I was reading Wolfowitz's memo, that's what
stands out on the whole thing.

This is not futile posturing. They had to make it in order to keep the whole
thing from colapsing. Wolfowitz is a fascist but he is no moron like
the shrub, or blinded by greed like Cheney, people on the
left should realize that.

What riles me up about this issue is that this is a matter that should
be up to the Iraqi people to decide and not to the self-styled US
vice-roys.

[rustydog]

1. I am more inclined to believe it it a divvying up of spoils

among the co-conspiritors.
There is vast wealth to be taken from Iraq by it's conquerors.
to share the billions to be made in reconstructing what we totally destroyed would be foolhardy!

Halliburton, Kellog/Brown&Root have first dibs. Us Oil interests have dibs and any filthy-rich immoral F**k who donated to Bush has dibs before any nation or corporation who may have opposed the murser of tens of thousands of human beings for material gain.

Of course, that is simply my read on this. the mafia doesn't share it's ill-gotten booty with it's victims or detractors, they keep it "in the family". so does Don Bush.

[Capt_Nemo]

2. Problem is that they need the EU and Canadian money plus

Debt forgiveness by all those nations.
Why risk those billions right now by alienating them? Something
else is happening and don't forget that spanish general elections
are coming soon...

[izzie]

3. Right on and bribes to hope more come in.

We want to keep the country and bleed it dry but with no deaths. Very hard to do.