Overdue Reversal on Iraq

The White House’s course reversal Tuesday to let Canadian firms bid on billions of dollars worth of construction contracts in Iraq was overdue. The policy switch recognizes the reality that the U.S. needs allies -- and not just in Iraq.

Last month, the Pentagon said countries that opposed the invasion of Iraq were ineligible to seek some of the $18.6 billion worth of contracts financed by U.S. taxpayers. The announcement came as Bush dispatched a special emissary, former Secretary of State James A. Baker III, to ask several nations to forgive some of the loans incurred by Saddam Hussein’s regime.

France, Germany, Russia and Canada were among the countries deemed out of the running for the reconstruction contracts.

Fortunately, the shunned countries did pledge to write off some of the billions of dollars left over from the Hussein days. Paris, Berlin and Moscow, like Ottawa, recognize that crippling Iraq with debts is a recipe for instability.

Arab nations that are owed additional billions of dollars and are at greater risk from Iraqi instability also should forgive much of the debt and count on making up their losses in trade with a free, prosperous Baghdad.

Bush said after breakfast with Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin on Tuesday that Canada’s leader, who took office Dec. 12, “understands the stakes” in rebuilding a peaceful Iraq. So do nations that pledge rebuilding money or forgive debt; all should be eligible for contracts. U.S. officials now say that is how the White House is leaning and that it may grant the same rights to France and Germany.

Martin took office promising to improve relations with Washington, which had frayed under his predecessor, Jean Chretien.

Canada was a strong supporter of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan and supplied troops to fight Al Qaeda and the Taliban. Despite opposition to the invasion of Iraq, Canadian ships patrolled the Persian Gulf, and Ottawa has promised more than $244 million in aid to the new Iraqi government.

The Bush administration boasts that more than 60 nations joined the U.S.-led coalition to rebuild Iraq, but longtime allies like Germany and major powers like China have been notable by their absence from that group. Yet Germany provides troops in Afghanistan, and China is a leader in the attempt to get North Korea to give up nuclear weapons.

The bitterness caused by the Iraq war is too costly to sustain. The U.S. does not have enough troops or money to solve problems by itself around the globe, and it can’t get the help it needs without offering something in return.

The hand extended to Canada, and perhaps soon to others, may herald acknowledgment of the complexity of real-world alliances.