The Invisible Hand

The Joyous Sound of Teeth Gnashing

The one thing you've got to admire about the Bush Administration . . . they know just how to infuriate their enemies.

Yesterday, the Defense Department posted contracting guidelines for reconstruction projects in Iraq.

And guess what . . . for security reasons France, Germany and Russia are barred from submitting bids.

How unreasonable, and petty, and unilateral, and swaggering, and arrogant . . . were the responses from the Axis of Weasels.

Yet how elegantly have said Weasels been boxed in. After all, they said the war to overthrow the fascist regime was about money not human rights. And here they are upset when they don't have a place at the trough.

The message from DoD is twofold . . . these guys did all they could to protect Saddam from overthrow and that kind of behavior has consequences in the real world.

The other message is that France, Germany and Russia are security risks. If they were so intent on collaborating with the old Hussein regime would they not be inclined to see a restoration of that regime . . . particularly if that means they regain some hope of repayment of their outstanding loans?

But for all the complaints about Bush's crude political motivations from the excluded ones there is something notable that they have chosen to ignore . . . Israel is excluded too.

Is it because Israel supported Saddam? Is it because Israel might willingly undermine the reconstruction? Is it because Israelis said mean things about George Bush?

No, it's because awarding Israel a large reconstruction contract in Iraq would probainflamelame the Arab lunatics and feed their anti-semitic conspiracy theories and make the task harder than it already is.

The calculation is simple and without nuance: Whose participation would advance the reconstruction of Iraq?

France? No
Spain? Yes
Russia? No
Poland? Yes
Israel? No
Jordan? Yes

If the truth hurts . . . so be it.