To the Point

No Iraq Contracts for Anti-War Countries

A Pentagon investigation has found that Vice President Dick Cheney-s former company, Halliburton, may have overcharged the government for fuel and services. That controversy is part of a larger debate over who gets the lucrative contracts to rebuild Iraq. The Bush administration, citing national security concerns, has decided to restrict bidding on reconstruction contracts to nations that supported the US invasion. But critics say the aim was to punish anti-war nations such as France, Germany, Russia and Canada. What does the policy do to efforts to repair relations with those countries? Does it make business sense? Jeffrey Kaye of public television's The Newshour with Jim Lehrer speaks with a financial reporter, a former Pentagon official, experts in national security and procurement policy, and Congressman Henry Waxman. Reporter's Notebook: The Year in Ideas Tis the season for, among other things, lists. On Sunday, the New York Times Magazine will publish its third annual "year in ideas"--inventions, breakthroughs and theories that the its editors call a "salute to the schemers, oddballs and other un orthodox geniuses toiling away in their labs and libraries, bent on changing the world.- Paul Tough helped compile the 67-item list that ranges from biblical taxation to makeup for men.