>Date: Updated September 28, 2003
>
>IN POLICY SHIFT, U.S. PUTS IRAQ ON eBAY
>
>
>No Takers in First 24 Hours
>
>
>In what was seen as a marked shift in American foreign policy, on
>Sunday the U.S. put the entire nation of Iraq up for sale on the
>Internet auction site eBay.
>
>The decision to list the Middle Eastern nation on the popular auction
>site surprised many at the United Nations, where just days ago
>President George W. Bush had made an impassioned plea for troops and
>money to help rebuild the war-torn country.
>
>But Mr. Bush hinted at the policy shift in his national radio address
>Saturday, saying, "We are not occupiers nor liberators: we are highly
>motivated sellers."
>
>French President Jacques Chirac was the first to notice the listing of
>Iraq on eBay Sunday morning, when the French leader logged on in search
>of some rare Edith Piaf recordings.
>
>While surfing the auction site, Mr. Chirac noticed the listing for the
>oil-rich nation, with an asking price of $87 billion and a seller
>identified only as RUMMY55.
>
>Jake Braswell, 39, a video store clerk who regularly visits eBay in
>search of memorabilia from the '70's television series "Battlestar
>Gallactica," said he had no intention of putting in a bid for Iraq,
>adding that he thought the listing itself was "misleading."
>
>"No way is Iraq in 'mint condition,'" Mr. Braswell said.
>
>As of late last night, U.S. officials were still holding out hope that
>someone, possibly erstwhile media mogul Edgar Bronfman Jr., might be
>tempted to make a bid for Iraq, but their mood was growing increasingly
>pessimistic.
>
>"In retrospect, asking for $87 billion might have been a mistake," one
>official conceded.
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