The pentagoin is just across the Potomac River from the White House, but sometimes the gulf seems far wider. Last week an edict from Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz appeared on a Pentagon Web site announcing that any country which failed to support the war on Iraq would not be allowed to bid on some $20 billion in contracts to rebuild the country. Wolfowitz was, in truth, merely posting a decision reached within the administration late last month. But the timing of the announcement was a bit awkward. The next day, President George W. Bush was scheduled to make friendly phone calls to the heads of state of the very countries penalized by the Pentagon's declaration. This week former secretary of State James Baker is scheduled to fly to Europe to beseech Russia, Germany and France to forgive Iraq's crushing $120 billion debt. Before Baker even stepped on the plane, the countries cut off from the reconstruction contracts were angrily refusing to bail out Iraq.
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