Mark Steyn points out on the U.S. government making “the axis of weasels ineligible for Iraqi reconstruction contracts” is that the U.S. is “not talking about frosting the French, Germans, Russians and Canadians out of Iraq entirely.” Anyone from those countries are free to invest and develop Iraq, what is at issue according to Steyn is:
…whether the American Defence Department should use American taxpayers’ money to offer American government contracts in Iraq to companies from countries that actively obstructed and continue to obstruct American policy in Iraq….The best thing for the people of Iraq, according to Mr Martin and , and Herr Schroder and M de Villepin, was that Saddam should be allowed to go on killing and torturing them for another decade or three…The assumption was that there would be no price to pay: after the war things would revert to normal…
….On Iraq, France, is on the other side – Saddam was their man, to the end. Germany is in a state of semi-derangement – a third of Germans under 30 believe that America organised the 9/11 attacks…One can think of several terms for folks…but “allies” isn’t one of them – unless “allies” is now a synonym for, respectively, saboteurs, poseurs, nutters and enemies. [“Payback time for the axis of weasels” Mark Steyn, UK Telegraph]