Bush administration uses economic stick to bring ‘allies’ into line to support illegal war against Iraq.
Bush May Use Trade Pacts for Iraq Leverage:
Maybe it’s just a coincidence that the Commerce Department announced decisions in recent days to confer “market-based-economy” status on Bulgaria and Romania, two Eastern European countries that support President Bush’s tough stance on Iraq.
And maybe a letter sent this week by a top House Republican to Chile’s president, exhorting him to bring his reluctant government behind the U.S. position at the United Nations, has nothing to do with Chile’s free-trade agreement pending in Congress.
But as those cases suggest, evidence is mounting that the Bush administration and some of its key congressional allies are prepared to use trade concessions for purposes of gaining leverage as diplomatic wrangling over Iraq grows more heated.
Until recently, Washington prided itself on avoiding the use of economic pressure to secure cooperation from foreign countries, with presidential spokesman Ari Fleischer declaring that “no quid pro quos” were being offered. One exception was the U.S. proposal to give Turkey a multibillion-dollar aid and trade package, justified as compensation for the losses the Turkish economy would probably incur from a war in Iraq. That deal is in limbo because Turkey’s parliament rejected a bill that would have allowed U.S. troops to attack Iraq from Turkish soil.