In Search of Rumsfeld's 5,000 Iraqi Small Businesses (Page 3)

Trying to Leave No Stone Unturned

At the advice of the Commerce Department, I contacted the courteous Thomas M. Sullivan, chief counsel for advocacy, Office of Advocacy, US Small Business Administration. In response to my query about small businesses in the United States, he informed me that "with 550,100 estimated employer firm openings in 2001, the number of employer business start-ups per day would be 1,507 (or 2,200 per workday)."

This information, I thought, suggested that perhaps Rumsfeld's figure was not that outlandish. But it still did not confirm its accuracy.

I've had less success--in fact, thus far, no success--getting information from the Commerce Department's Iraq Reconstruction Task Force, whose purpose is to assist US companies interested in reconstruction and commercial opportunities in Iraq. The task force maintains a website, where US companies can obtain information about Iraqi reconstruction. I, however, couldn't find anything on the topic that interested me, and my many calls (where I left messages on an answering machine) were never returned.

But I was intrigued by a Q and A in a brochure on the site, "Doing Business In Iraq: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)," dated October 22, 2003:

--How can companies obtain background information on Iraqi companies?

--The U.S. Government is currently unable to provide background information on Iraqi companies.

I had a brief telephone conversation with an official at the State Department who demanded that I not quote him by name or in any way identify him (how dangerous, I wondered, were my efforts to obtain information?).

He said sotto voce that the department had nothing to do with Rumsfeld's statement and suggested that I turn to the National Security Council for further information.

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