WASHINGTON, March 27 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - U.S. Undersecretary of State for Economic, Business and Agricultural Affairs Alan Larson defended Thursday, March 27, the Bush administration’s decision to give American firms the lion’s share of juicy contracts for the reconstruction of post-war Iraq.

"It was exactly the right thing to do, the responsible thing to do," Agence France-Presse (AFP) quoted him as saying.

He claimed Washington had only sought "to make sure that there would be people who would be ready to come in to restart the electric generators, to operate the ports, to put out oil fires.

"The awarding of these contracts was about how can we make sure that the Iraqi people get the help that they need quickly, not about who is going to get the economic benefits of post-conflict reconstruction in Iraq."

On Tuesday, March 25, the U.S. army granted the main Iraqi oil-well firefighting contract to a unit of Halliburton Co., a firm once run by Vice President Dick Cheney, without any bidding.

The Center for Responsive Politics recalled that Halliburton had poured 17,6 million dollars into Bush's 2000 presidential campaign.

"A select group of U.S. construction firms now bidding on a lucrative government contract to rebuild a postwar Iraq contributed a combined 2.8 million dollars -- 68 percent to Republicans -- over the past two election cycles," the center added.

Two other U.S. companies have benefited from contracts worth a total of 11.9 million dollars, including one to manage the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has already opened bidding for eight major projects, ranging from infrastructure to public health.

Other contracts could be awarded this week, particularly for infrastructure projects worth about 600 million dollars, for which eight US firms have been invited to bid.

The rebuilding process may represent a pot of gold, with the U.N. Development Program (UNDP) estimating it will cost up to 30 billion dollars over the next three years.

The European Commission said it may look into whether the delivery of the contracts complied with World Trade Organization rules on public procurement.

"But more generally, these contracts aren't really in our ambit," said a spokeswoman for the European Union's executive arm.

Yet, foreign companies are likely to collect only crumbs, if British shipping company P and O could serve as an example.

"We did make a bid but we have been told that we were not successful," said P and O spokesman David Smith.

According to British media, many bids by British companies have been denied.

France, on its part, is also "alarmed by reports that the Bush administration may award the lion's share of Iraqi reconstruction contracts to U.S. firms," said the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday.