Annan gives nod to US-led UN force in Iraq, but other differences remain

["Fred Feldman" <ffeldman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The Security Council has a hot potato here.  On the one hand, the
growing popular and military challenge to the occupation gives them an
opportunity to exact a price for their cooperation.  But anything
resembling an outright defeat or imposed withdrawal for the US
occupiers in Iraq would weaken all the imperialist powers, including
France, and make them all more vulnerable to resistance in the
semicolonial countries. So they are also under pressure to come to
Washington's aid.

These developments highlight the necessity and the opening for a
significant united action against the occupation on August 25. Troops
out now! Unconditional sovereignty for Iraq!
Fred Feldman


New York Times, Sept. 23
U.N. Chief Says New Force in Iraq Can Be Led by U.S.
By FELICITY BARRINGER

UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 22  Secretary General Kofi Annan suggested today
that the Security Council could set up a new multinational force in
Iraq that would be led by the United States as the largest troop
contributor a common practice in joint military operations.

In addition, Mr. Annan said continuing security concerns in Iraq were
a part of a larger challenge of persuading Iraqis that the foreigners
in their midst were acting in their interest and intended to turn back
the reins of power quickly.

In remarks to reporters, he said the Security Council might "decide to
transform the operation into a U.N.-mandated multinational force."
But, he added, "it would also imply not just burden-sharing, but also
sharing decisions and responsibility with the others."

"If that doesn't happen," he added, "I think it's going to be very
difficult to get a second resolution that will satisfy everybody."

A spokesman for Mr. Annan later said a unified command would not
exclude having the leaders of other troop contingents work as part of
the same headquarters unit.

It was not immediately clear if Mr. Annan's suggestion would provide
common ground between the United States  with its insistence on
complete control of political, economic and particularly military
operations and Council members like France, Germany and Russia. They
remain disinclined to lend their approval to a military effort
undertaken despite their fierce opposition.

But it was clear from Mr. Annan's public remarks today and a brief
interview that he is certain that a new United Nations mandate is
required to give the organization a clearly defined role and to allow
Iraqis to have confidence that control over Iraq's future is reverting
to them.

"We are focusing a lot on the force, the multinational force, and
security," he said. "I think it's because of what happened. But that
is only part of the answer. The other part of the answer is to move
quickly to create an environment where the average Iraqi will support
the operation and see that what is happening is in their interest."

He added, "That's why I keep saying, let's come up with a timetable to
let them know that the occupation is really time-bound."

Paying homage to the skills of Sergio Vieira de Mello, the United
Nations coordinator on Iraq who was killed in Tuesday's bombing, he
said Mr. Vieira de Mello's ability to win the trust of diverse
segments of Iraqi society could not be replicated. "We have played a
vital role," Mr. Annan said. "But we did because of that personality.
Because of Sergio being who he is. The next time around, the mandates
have to be very clear and well-defined. I cannot rely on
personalities. I had only one Sergio."

The secretary general, who flew to Brazil tonight to attend the
memorial service for Mr. Vieira de Mello, has been increasingly vocal
in emphasizing the need for a common approach among the former
Security Council opponents. He told reporters today that "a chaotic
Iraq is not in anyone's interest," and "therefore we have a collective
responsibility to try and deal with the situation as it exists in Iraq
today."

But the bitterness, particularly on the part of France, was back in
evidence on Thursday in the remarks of a French envoy to the Council.

In interviews published and broadcast today, Dominique de Villepin,
the French foreign minister, did not reject the idea of supporting a
new resolution calling for international help in Iraq.

Mr. de Villepin did, however, talk of moving Iraq from a "logic of
occupation" to a "political logic of the restoration of sovereignty."
He called for elections for a constituent assembly, to be supervised
by a new special representative of the secretary general and to take
place as early as the end of the year.

It was unclear how nations like India, Pakistan and Turkey, which have
balked at providing troops in the absence of a mandate, would respond
to the secretary general's notion of essentially embracing the
existing occupying force as part of a United Nations-mandated
multinational force.

In a related development, Mexico has angered the United States by
calling for a vote Monday on its moribund resolution on the security
of United Nations employees overseas, diplomats here said today.

Council diplomats said today that the resolution, which was proposed
in May, was put aside after the United States threatened to veto it
because of its invocation of the powers of the International Criminal
Court. The Bush administration opposes the court, a standing war
crimes tribunal, arguing that it might be used to harass American
soldiers and government officials.

But vetoing a resolution to enhance the security of United Nations
staff, less than a week after 23 people died in the Baghdad bombing,
would be too embarrassing, the diplomats added. Even an abstention
would be hard to explain. So the United States would be left with a
choice of agreeing to language it has repeatedly rejected or finding
some way to get Mexico to modify the draft.

But, diplomats said, almost all the rest of the Council members have
indicated support for the measure. Bulgaria, a close ally of the
United States during the Iraq debates, expects to be a co-sponsor, the
Bulgarian envoy, Stefan Tafrov, said today. Even Pakistan, which also
has reservations about the court, has indicated its support.

A State Department official said Secretary of State Colin L. Powell
would call the Mexican foreign minister, Luis Ernesto Derbez, to push
for modification of the draft resolution. "We want to make sure our
concerns regarding the International Criminal Court were addressed
before we could support such a resolution," the official said.