Fundamentally Reoriented

Newsletter 2008/12/15 - Fundamentally Reoriented
BAGHDAD/BERLIN/WASHINGTON (Own report) - The United States is insisting on stronger German participation in stabilizing the puppet regime in Iraq. As the US ambassador in Baghdad declared, he hopes "very much that Europeans will become more engaged in Iraq." Now the question is to impose "a fundamentally different orientation" on this Gulf state, known for its long standing "animosity toward the West."Above all, German companies should be participating. As a matter of fact, German business activities in Iraq are once again on the rise, since the German government concluded a business agreement with Baghdad last summer, symbolically sending the Minister of the Economy, Michael Glos, into that war-ravaged country. Among the enterprises seeking to do business in Baghdad are numerous companies, that, in the1970s and 80s, had already close relations with Iraq and are now seeking to refresh their old contacts. Back then, Germany was at times Baghdad's most important business partner - a position that the German businesses would like to re-achieve, even at the expense of their US
rival.
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http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/en/fulltext/56210