STORM2K

Anti-War Front Collapses as Iraq Gold Rush Begins
Tue April 15, 2003 11:45 AM ET

By Erik Kirschbaum
BERLIN (Reuters) - They couldn't prevent the war, but that hasn't stopped the 'Non-Nyet-Nein' coalition of France, Russia and Germany from staking their individual claims to a role in shaping, and profiting from, the new Iraq.

Even before the fighting stopped, the three European powers were moving to build bridges to the United States and ensure their companies a share in rebuilding the real bridges in Iraq -- along with roads, runways, oilfields and schools.

France says it wants to be pragmatic, Germany says it's an honest broker because it has no economic interests in Iraq, and Russia says it will consider Washington's call to forgive some $8 billion in Soviet era debt.

All three have sounded conciliatory in the past week, while saying they want to see the United Nations play the lead role in post-war reconstruction -- tactics widely seen as an effort to avoid being locked out of business deals by the United States.

Their fears are understandable, especially after the House of Representatives passed a measure last week to bar French, Russia and German companies from winning business in Iraq after the war they resisted. The measure did not become law.

"Nobody in France is under any illusion about France's place in the reconstruction of Iraq in terms of the contracts that will be awarded," said Barthelemy Courmont, researcher at the French Institute for International and Strategic Relations.

"Even before the outbreak of hostilities, we knew we would get nothing."

France led the drive to prevent a war and threatened to use its veto at the U.N. Security Council to block any resolution authorizing military action against Iraq.

But Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin recently warned against a "victor's spoils" attitude in Iraq. "The idea that Iraq can be a sort of Eldorado, a cake that states can carve up, seems to me contrary to good sense," he said.

SCHROEDER SEEKS NO DEALS

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, who opposed an Iraq war in his 2002 re-election campaign, has been out of favor with President Bush ever since.

Bush administration officials have made clear the president will attend a G8 summit of industrialized nations in Evian, France on June 1.

But U.S. officials have made clear in recent days that Bush is unlikely to reach out to mend diplomatic ties with the anti-war coalition, and thus its members may well feel the sting of retribution.

The likely result is that those who opposed the U.S.-led war in Iraq may well take a back seat when a new Iraqi government hands out business such as valuable oil contracts, and may be left out of the discussion in future international crises.

Schroeder has rejected suggestions German firms were lined up to win lucrative deals in Iraq and seems mainly interested in repairing tattered relations with the United States. He has ignored calls in Germany to fight for business deals in Iraq.

"I think the discussion about who gets which orders is a bit strange," he said. "That will be up to a democratically elected Iraqi government. To talk about that now is a bit macabre."

Gernot Erler, a senior member of Schroeder's Social Democrats in parliament, was more robust when commenting on speculation that Germany will be asked to help fund Iraq's rebuilding: "If we pay for reconstruction, German companies must get business deals."

Defense Minister Peter Struck agreed, saying "It would be absurd to demand Europe help finance reconstruction, then insist that certain European countries are not given contracts."

Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said Germany should play a role because unlike Russia and France, "We don't have any direct economic interests. We can act in a more balancing way."

Political analysts said Schroeder's evident discomfort at a St Petersburg meeting last week with the Russian and French presidents showed their alliance was effectively dead and that each would pursue his national interest from now on.

"Schroeder is trying to win back some room to maneuver in foreign policy," said Hartwin Hummel at Duesseldorf University. "He's now trying to find his way back into the boat."

"Schroeder is eager to rebuild bridges to the United States even though it seems his relationship to Bush seems permanently destroyed -- Bush appears to be someone who holds grudges," said Peter Loesche, political scientist at Goettingen University.