A few years ago, if someone had asked me whether or not I believed the US would be able to push through a resolution - any resolution - I would have said yes assuming that a combination of money and bullying would get the job done.
But the UN essentially said no to the invasion of Iraq. The invasion happened anyway and created a mess beyond Washington's control. Now, after failing up front, the Bushies want to use the UN to help them achieve their piratical goals. Despite the hat-in-hand realities, the Bushies are still behaving as if they're the sharpest guys at the table.
But everybody - certainly everyone in Paris, Moscow and Berlin - now knows that the US is running short of good cards to play and the insistence that any international 'stabilizing' force be under US command because, in the words of Imperial Prefect Powell, only the US possesses the "leadership" and "competency" to accomplish the task looks like the lowest kind of boastful fantasy.
The Bushies and their neo-con cadre talked and talked and talked about the new American century and remaking the globe and calling all the shots and the unique burdens of empire and now it all looks like a steaming pile of fly covered crap.
Still dangerous. Yes, still dangerous and important, lots of weapons, huge economy and so forth. But the center stage position is getting harder to maintain. Maybe the neo-cons are the only ones who really believe this - hence the hysterical rush to super-hegemony before too much more ground was lost.
The thing is, by pushing so hard they may have shifted the decline into higher gear.
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URL:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&u=/ap/20030904/ap_on_re_mi_ea/un_iraq_12
France, Germany Criticize Iraq Resolution
By GEIR MOULSON, Associated Press Writer
DRESDEN, Germany - The leaders of Germany and France criticized a U.S. draft resolution seeking international troops and money for Iraq (news - web sites), saying it falls short by not granting responsibility to Iraqis or a large enough role to the United Nations (news - web sites).
The comments from German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and French President Jacques Chirac came in response to a U.N. resolution proposed Wednesday by the United States. The resolution seeks troops and financial support for Iraq's postwar reconstruction but declines to relinquish political or military control of the country.
The U.S. plan does not address the "priority objective" — the transfer of power to a homegrown Iraqi government, Chirac said. Schroeder said the draft resolution had brought "movement" into the diplomacy. But he added: "I agree with the president when he says: Not dynamic enough, not sufficient."
"Now is the time the to look forward, and that can only happen if the United Nations can take responsibility for the political process," Schroeder said.
Schroeder and Chirac were both ardent opponents of the war in Iraq, and both are particularly adamant that the United States cede control of the political process there. They said they would coordinate their positions on the U.S. draft resolution and that they hoped that the United States would be open to changes.
"We are naturally ready to study it in the most positive manner," Chirac said of the U.S. draft. He also said he believed any vote on the resolution was still some time away.
"We will certainly have the occasion to present modification and amendments," he said.
The two leaders' statements dealt a blow to the proposed U.S. resolution. France is one of five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, a position that gives it veto power over Council actions.
The draft resolution, obtained by The Associated Press, would transform the U.S.-led military force in Iraq into a U.N.-authorized multinational force under a unified command. It would also ask the Iraqi Governing Council to cooperate with the United Nations and U.S. officials in Baghdad to produce a timetable and program for drafting a new constitution and holding democratic elections.
Key provisions in the U.S. draft would:
_ Call on U.N. member states to help train and equip an Iraqi police force.
_ Invite the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council to cooperate with the United Nations and U.S. officials in Baghdad to produce "a timetable and program for the drafting of a new constitution for Iraq and for the holding of democratic elections."
_ Ask the U.N. representative in Iraq to facilitate a "national dialogue and consensus building" to promote the political transition.
_ Ask all U.N. member states and international and regional organizations "to accelerate the provision of substantial financial contributions to support the Iraqi reconstruction effort" and appeal to international financial institutions to take immediate steps to provide a full range of loans and other assistance.
_Call on countries in the region "to prevent the transit of terrorists, arms for terrorists, and financing that would support terrorists."
But Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites), who outlined the U.S. proposal at a news conference Wednesday, made clear that "the United States will continue to play a dominant role" both politically and militarily. An American commander would take charge of the multinational force and U.S. civilian administrator L. Paul Bremer would keep the top political post, he said.
To council nations that want responsibilities in Iraq to be shared, Powell said, "With the resolution, you're essentially putting the Security Council into the game."
On Thursday, reaction from Security Council members was mixed. Hours before Schroeder and Chirac spoke, Russia sent its first signal that it might consider sending peacekeepers to Iraq as part of an international force.
"It all depends on a specific resolution. I wouldn't exclude it outright," Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov told the Interfax news agency.
And in Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan said the U.S. offer to share Iraq's postwar reconstruction was in line with the objectives of China, which has "actively participated" in the effort to increase U.N. participation.
"We have all along stood for the early restoration of stability throughout Iraq," Kong said. "We have stood for the important growth of the United Nations in this endeavor." He did not provide details.
U.S. diplomats are expected to engage in behind-the-scenes negotiations on the resolution's text, first with the veto-wielding permanent members, then with the rest of the Security Council.
Powell discussed the resolution Wednesday with his Russian, German and French counterparts as well as with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan (news - web sites). He said he expected to get reaction and suggestions to the resolution from fellow Security Council members by the end of the week.
"We will see where we are at the beginning of (next) week and push it as aggressively as we can," he said.
Powell said he didn't foresee "an extended process" of negotiations. Other council diplomats said they would like the resolution to be adopted before ministers gather for the meeting of the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 23.
But some European countries are likely to resist if the United States continues to try to hold on to all the lucrative and influential ventures, such as oil contracts and the political rebuilding process, according to some council diplomats who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The postwar operation is costing the United States about $3.9 billion a month and has strained the American military, which has some 140,000 troops stationed in Iraq.
The resolution envisions a substantial infusion of international aid to defray costs now largely borne by U.S. taxpayers. At the same time, the administration is preparing a new budget request for $60 billion to $70 billion for reconstruction and the military operation of Iraq — nearly double what Congress was expecting, The Washington Post reported.
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