AFTER THE WAR

 Editorial de  “The Washington Post” del 03.04.2003 

El formateado es mío (L. B.-B.)

The weekend before the war started, President Bush signed on to a statement with British Prime Minister Tony Blair pledging to "work in close partnership with international institutions, including the United Nations," in postwar Iraq and to seek a Security Council resolution to "endorse an appropriate post-conflict administration." Yet a secretive Pentagon-led group is already far advanced in plans to unilaterally install a postwar regime dominated by Americans and Iraqi exiles -- one that would effectively exclude not only the United Nations but also European and Middle Eastern allies whose support will be essential to stabilizing the country. Even the State Department's nominees would be shut out by Defense Department leaders who talk of leaping from military rule to an interim Iraqi government in 90 days with the help of the American officials who would run Iraqi ministries. This narrow approach could compound the diplomatic damage of the war and expose the United States and its soldiers to large and unnecessary risks.

Few dispute that a U.S. military administration will be needed immediately after the conflict, and administration officials are right that Iraq should be turned over to Iraqis as quickly as possible. The problem with the Pentagon's emerging approach is that it would structure this supposedly limited military regime in such a way as to concentrate control over the subsequent political transition in U.S. hands, effectively limiting international participation to providing a nominal blessing or working in a subordinate technical capacity. It would make virtually inevitable an Iraqi transitional government dominated by the small group of exiles long favored by the Pentagon. Some administration officials appear to believe they can impose this scheme over the protests of allies but still count on U.N. humanitarian assistance and peacekeeping contributions that would allow an early withdrawal of most U.S. troops.

The Security Council's failure to follow through on its own resolutions on Iraq and the irresponsible obstructionism of allies such as France might seem to justify that course. Yet Mr. Bush rightly pledged to seek the repair of alliances and of the United Nations after the war, and the Pentagon's plan would surely deepen the rifts. Even a parting with Britain could not be ruled out; Mr. Blair has made U.N. involvement in postwar Iraq the centerpiece of his own political strategy. An isolated United States might find little help in feeding or policing Iraq's 23 million people, while being condemned across the Middle East as an occupying power. The Pentagon's Iraqi friends could quickly come to be regarded as quislings and puppets. U.S. forces could find themselves the targets of resistance and terrorism, while any hope of postwar progress on an Israeli-Palestinian settlement could disappear.

A better model is readily available. Mr. Blair is proposing that the United Nations convene a conference to decide on the formation of a transitional government -- like the one that led to an Afghan administration after the ouster of the Taliban. The United States inevitably would have a major influence in shaping that administration, just as it did the Afghan regime, but the U.N. umbrella would give the process far greater legitimacy. It would also open the way for international participation in reconstruction and peacekeeping, as in Afghanistan, and allow for U.N. as well as American technical help in rebuilding institutions. It could provide a platform for repairing U.S. relationships with countries such as Germany; even France, which has threatened to obstruct Security Council agreement on a postwar administration, has signaled its willingness to work with the British formula. Mr. Bush said, on that prewar weekend, that he understands "incredible international cooperation" is needed to manage the threats of the 21st century. Postwar Iraq may determine whether the United States regains that cooperation -- or embarks on a dangerous unilateral course.