The Pentagon move "is not the wisest decision" especially since theUS needs European help to ease Iraq's crippling foreign debt and help speed upreconstruction, cautions EU foreign and security policy chief Javier Solana.Europe's financial stake in Iraq is substantial. Baghdad is believed to owe anestimated $3 billion to France, $4.4 billion to Germany, and $8 billion toRussia. EU governments - excluding France and Germany - have collectivelypromised up to $800 million, including 200 million Euros in aid from theEuropean Commission in reconstruction aid for Iraq and French companies, whichhave old ties to Iraq and intimate knowledge of, for instance, the telephonesystem, which may prove to be vital in rebuilding the country's infrastructure.