Seems that the Germans now want a piece of reconstucting Iraq. Guess they are having some monetary issues now that the money train, otherwise know as Oil for Food, has dried up. While we welcome more involvement from the Germans in training Iraqi Security forces, I would hope that they do not expect any sort of piece of the pie from reconstruction of Iraq. No contracts, no preferred status, nothing. Of course, that is going to be up the the duly elected government of Iraq, who, I would suspect, will take a much dimmer view of the Germans (and French), then we will, as President Bush extends an olive branch to many of the world governments.
Haven’t we been down this road before?
It seems to me that I remember a big row about German companies being shut out of contracts, followed by the US awarding contracts to German companies followed by the German companies leaving with their tails between their legs when the going got tough…