BACK TO THE UNITED NATIONS

 

 Editorial de  “The Washington Post” del 04.09.2003

 

President Bush's decision to return to the United Nations for a new mandate and greater assistance in Iraq is an important step toward overcoming the growing difficulties of an occupation authority the administration unwisely sought to dominate. A Security Council resolution won't stop the attacks on U.S. soldiers by remnants of Saddam Hussein's regime or the terrorist bombings aimed at blocking Iraq's political reconstruction. Nor will it turn on lights and air conditioning in Baghdad and Basra. But it should, if skillfully pursued by the administration, allow countries that until now have watched from the sidelines -- ranging from Turkey, India and Pakistan to Germany and France -- to contribute tens of thousands of additional troops and billions in badly needed funding. It could also undo some of the damage of the prewar international debate and allow the United States to forge an international coalition capable of pursuing the broader goals in the Middle East that both Mr. Bush and European leaders say they support: increasing democratization, decreasing support for terror and peace between Israel and its neighbors. Whether they supported or opposed the war, each of the world's great democracies now has a vital interest in stabilizing Iraq under a representative government; all stand to lose if the country is plunged into chaos or seized by another extremist regime.

It remains to be seen whether prewar U.S. adversaries such as France, Germany and Russia will now act in that larger interest or continue seeking to punish the Bush administration and its European allies. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell told reporters yesterday that his first contacts with Security Council members were "positive"; but it should be remembered that the prewar breach in the transatlantic alliance was as much due to the arrogance and unilateralism of French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder as it was to that of the Bush administration. Excessive concessions to the demand of those countries for "U.N. control" in Iraq could make a bad situation worse. It would be wrong, for example, to slow or reverse the assumption of authority by the Iraqi Governing Council or the speedy recruitment of Iraqi police and security forces.

Still, the draft resolution being circulated by the administration yesterday appeared to offer a reasonable basis for an agreement. The resolution would give U.N. sanction to a multinational force under "unified" -- meaning American -- command, a formula already endorsed by Secretary General Kofi Annan. At the same time it would give the Security Council a decisive role in the political transition by inviting the Iraqi Governing Council to present it with a plan and a timetable for a political transition. If asked by the Iraq council, the United Nations could help establish and oversee the electoral process -- a role that could reassure Iraqis suspicious of purely American management. A separate fund for reconstruction could be established, managed with the help of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, to receive international aid donations.

At best, the new U.N. process could give the occupation a vital boost of manpower and money -- and perhaps a second wind of cooperation from Iraqis, whose toleration for the U.S. regime is dangerously attenuated. But it cannot be a substitute for new Iraqi leadership or for a renewed American commitment. The arrival of fresh foreign troops cannot become an excuse for U.S. withdrawals -- the forces now in Iraq will be needed as long as there is a military threat from Iraqi guerrillas and terrorists. Nor can the administration and Congress responsibly avoid a commitment of many more billions for Iraqi reconstruction, over and above military costs. As Mr. Bush finally acknowledged last week, postwar Iraq is "a massive undertaking" in which vital U.S. interests are at stake. A new U.N. mandate might make the challenge more manageable, and success more likely -- and yet this country must still prepare for a difficult, expensive and prolonged effort.