Some U.S. coalition partners seeking favors in return for sending troops to Iraq
Friday, September 26, 2003
JIM KRANE, Associated Press Writer
(09-26) 10:47 PDT (AP) --
Now comes the payback for the 26-nation "coalition of the willing" that joined the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq.
Those countries are looking for the Bush administration to return the favor for their support. Mongolia, which has 174 troops in Iraq, wants a free trade deal with the United States. Turkey, which is considering sending 10,000 troops, just won $8.5 billion in U.S. loan guarantees. And Poland, Serbia, Romania, Latvia and others are pushing for contracts to rebuild Iraq's infrastructure.
"They've chipped in and they want a piece of the action," said John Pike of the defense consultancy GlobalSecurity.org. "They want to wet their beaks."
Few governments openly ask for rewards for their service in Iraq. And experts say favors from the United States, although a routine part of diplomacy, were probably not promised in advance.
But participation of countries as small as Macedonia -- population 2 million -- and Estonia -- with 1.4 million people -- have given a valuable international stamp to a war that received no backing from the United Nations and is largely perceived as a unilateral act of the United States. The 20,000 troops supplied by coalition countries so far also ease the burden on the 130,000 U.S. soldiers in Iraq.
For that, experts say, the United States is willing to pay.
In February, President Bush invited Mongolian President Natsagiyn Bagabandi in the White House to thank him for joining the coalition. In April, Mongolia sought a return favor. It asked the U.S. departments of State and Commerce for a free trade pact, said Jambaldorj Tserendorj, a counselor at the Mongolian Embassy in Washington.
Tserendorj said Mongolia's backing of the war gave it an advantage. "We cannot say that this will play the main role, but to some extent it could help."
More evidence of returned favors will take the shape of future U.S. military aid or investment in Eastern Europe and other friendly states -- which could come at the expense of old allies like France and Germany, both opponents of the war, analysts say.
"Clearly, those countries see the U.S. needs political support and troops," said Philip Finnegan, a military sales analyst with the Teal Group, a defense consultancy. "They're going to use it as leverage in trying to strengthen their hand in negotiations and in getting favors."
Poland, with 2,400 troops in Iraq and command of a swath of south-central Iraq, finds itself reaping several windfalls.
The U.S. government spent about $250 million to airlift the Poles to Iraq, build their camps and provide equipment. Now, the Polish national airline, LOT, is among several European carriers with rights to operate flights to Iraq. And Polish Bank Millennium is one of a consortium of 13 banks chosen to run the Iraqi Trade Bank.
Officially, contracts in Iraq are open to any country not on the State Department's list of terrorist sponsors.
"We want as many countries as possible involved in the rebuilding of Iraq," said Naheed Mehta, a spokeswoman for the U.S.-led administration in Baghdad. "Anyone is entitled to contribute if they have the expertise."
Unofficially, countries like France and Germany, which traded heavily with Iraq before the war, are on the outs.
Poland has 116 suppliers and subcontracting firms registered with Bechtel Corp., the U.S. contractor charged with rebuilding much of Iraq. France, with a far larger economy, has just 24.
In July, more than 20 companies from Poland signed a memorandum of understanding with Kellogg, Brown and Root, the construction subsidiary of Houston-based oilfield services firm Halliburton. The Polish group is preparing for contracts to rebuild the Iraqi oil industry.
"Groups are pulling together to be good partners for U.S. companies," said Wladyslaw Jerzy Wezyk, director of Poland's Chamber of Commerce.
Poles also have been negotiating purchase of some 450 new Humvees in a deal worth $45 million, financed through a U.S. loan, defense ministry spokesman Col. Eugeniusz Mleczak said Thursday.
Direct access to crude oil is Poland's "final goal," said Foreign Minister Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz.
The Bulgarians have a favor to ask the United States in return for sending 480 soldiers to Iraq: They seek help collecting a $1.7 billion debt from Iraq, as well as U.S. investment in Bulgaria.
Albania, which sent 70 peacekeepers to the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, expects U.S. support for military reforms aimed at qualifying for NATO membership. The country landed $3 million in U.S. military aid in exchange for sending its troops, and Washington also covered the costs of the deployment.
Last week, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., said money for the war was being used to bribe foreign leaders to send troops. But analysts described the payments to coalition members as typical diplomacy.
"This is a fairly normal part of putting a coalition together," said James Lewis, a former U.S. diplomat, now with the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. Diplomacy means offering governments "a pot of sweeteners to help people go along with whatever the United States is proposing."
Czech Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla discussed reconstruction contracts with Bush in Washington in July, after the Czech Republic sent 312 personnel to a field hospital in Basra. The country's foreign minister, Cyril Svoboda, also broached the contracts issue with Secretary of State Colin Powell, Foreign Ministry spokesman Vit Kolar said Thursday.
As many as 40 Czech firms are close to signing contracts in Iraq, said Frantisek Malota, a senior trade official.
Stevedoring Services of America, the U.S. firm handling reconstruction of the Persian Gulf port of Umm Qasr, asked a Ukrainian company to handle part of the task, said a Foreign Ministry official who spoke on condition of anonymity. The official would not name the company.
Ukraine sent some 450 anti-chemical weapons troops to Kuwait during the war and now has 1,640 peacekeepers that are part of the Polish-led force.
Jordan, which didn't join the coalition but allowed the United States to base special forces in its eastern desert, is asking the Pentagon to provide about $100 million worth of upgrades to its F-16 fighter jets and AH-1 Cobra attack helicopters, said Teal Group's Richard Aboulafia.
Even Serbia, which isn't a coalition member and has no soldiers in Iraq, has been boasting of a reward for helping the United States. The government hasn't described the particulars of its support, but local press reports have said Serbia gave the United States intelligence on Yugoslav-built military bunkers, airports and other installations in Iraq.
Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Zivkovic told reporters in Washington in July that Powell promised to include Serbian firms in the reconstruction in Iraq. Zivkovic also met with Bechtel, where he was shown how companies could register as willing subcontractors on Bechtel's Web site, said Bechtel's Valerie Kazanjian.
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