In a move that drives the international community further away, Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz has issued a memo denying countries which opposed the invasion of Iraq a chance to compete for $18.6 billion in reconstruction contracts.

Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement Tuesday that the action was a "totally gratuitous slap that does nothing to protect our security interests and everything to alienate countries we need with us in Iraq."

Biden said that even as the Bush administration is asking for support from NATO members for peacekeeping efforts in Iraq, "we stick a finger in the eye of those whose help we have been seeking." [Anti-war nations barred from bids]

Showing Wolfowitz's utter lack of understanding

Wolfowitz's three-page memo said that limiting competition for the lucrative prime contracts "will encourage the expansion of international cooperation in Iraq, and in future efforts." [ibid.]

The initial response indicates the opposite reaction is more likely

Canada, also barred from the bidding, said the move would make it difficult for it to contribute more funds for Iraq's reconstruction.

" To exclude Canadians just because they are Canadians would be unacceptable if they accept funds from Canadian taxpayers for the reconstruction of Iraq," Deputy Prime Minister John Manley told Associated Press. Officials say Canada has given more than $190 million to the rebuilding effort. [ibid.]

And worse still, while alienating the world, the policy probably won't prevent the "excluded" countries from getting sub-contracts for reconstruction work. The only thing accomplished will be the US having to stay longer and spend more in Iraq, while US security continues to get short shrift (fewer than 5% of cargo containers are being inspected at US ports, first responders are still waiting for federal funds, etc.)

So is it greed? Megalomania? Stupidity? What was he thinking?