EDITORIAL
Contract ban to rebuild Iraq is sure to backfire

One can understand the human impulse behind a White House decision to shut noncoalition nations out of a multibillion-dollar effort to rebuild Iraq.

It's natural to want to offer these huge contracts to allies who helped in the war effort while icing out nonparticipants.

But whatever satisfaction the United States gains from this decision will likely be overshadowed by the political and perhaps even legal fallout it will generate.

But we do not need to speculate into the future to see the harm this decision can do. Just as the bar against noncoalition countries was being announced, the United States launched a new effort to reduce the amount of international debt held by Iraq.

The debt is held by a number of countries, including France, Germany and Russia who are shut out of the rebuilding effort. How likely are they to forgive debt to a country where they cannot participate in its recovery?

At this point, Iraq needs all the help it can get. Playing a game of friends and enemies may be satisfying, but it is sorely wrongheaded.