[KevinDonae]

In truth, US banks haven't done enough financial business with either Iraq or Afghanistan. If I as president had a war, I'd have put some pressure on the banks to do business there. You don't need to force that with legislation - just use the bully pulpet and keep the issue in the public eye.

I'd also have written enough of a first draft of their legal systems to ensure constracts get enforced, etc, so the banks agreed to sign on. But I think the antiwar folks make a mistake when they paint banks as the villain - you need banks to rebuild a nation.

Halliburton is a different story - we made a mistake by handing them contracts instead of local companies. The west is also ignoring the potential for Indian and Chinese companies to help us. Very few skilled people want to give up their comfortable lives to go live in Africa or Afghanistan. China and India have willing people who could help (just look at Africa and Chinese business emerging there)