Meanwhile...
U.S. Suggests St. Petersburg Group Waive Iraq Debt
Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz testifying to the Senate Armed Services Committee said
"I hope for example they'll think about the very large debts that come from money that was lent to the dictator (Saddam Hussein) to buy weapons and to build palaces and to build instruments of repression," he said.
"I think they ought to consider whether it might not be appropriate to forgive some or all of that debt so that the new Iraqi government isn't burdened with it. There's a great deal they can do. This is a time to think about the future."
Iraq owes Russia and France about $8 billion each, mostly for sales and contracts concluded in the 1980s, when Iraq was at war with neighboring Iran and had friendly relations with most other countries. Russia, then as the Soviet Union, was the major supplier of arms to the Iraqi military."
Wolfowitz also sent a clear message to Chirac that France will pay a price for their obstructionism in NATO.
"The United States should also examine whether France, by opting out of NATO's military structure, is getting benefits without making a commensurate contribution, he added.
The United States could reconsider its support for a European initiative based on a 60,000-strong reaction force with access to NATO assets for crisis management, he said."