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...approached the Security Council seeking a new resolution that would give UN authorization, and thereby international legitimacy, for nations that opposed the war to send troops and funds to ease Washington's burden in Iraq. The Pentagon had originally hoped to get as many as 50,000 troops from nations such as Turkey, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, but when approached, these countries uniformly demanded UN authorization as a precondition for any deployment. And the UN imprimatur is also considered essential to persuade some of the wealthy nations of Europe to contribute funds to a reconstruction effort that, together with...
...antiwar powers on the Security Council certainly appear ready to accept the principle that the U.S. would remain in charge of any UN-authorized military force in Iraq. Such cases as Kosovo, East Timor and Afghanistan have recently established the precedent for the nation or group of nations committing most of the troops to a UN-authorized peace-enforcement mission retains command. The question of how quickly to transfer sovereign authority to Iraqis has been a point of contention, with the French initially insisting that a transitional government be seated within a month, while Secretary of State Powell dismissed...
...point in the negotiations at Geneva - and in those scheduled for the weeks ahead - is the question of who remains legally in charge in Baghdad between now and the establishment of a sovereign Iraqi government. In the U.S. view of things, that would be Ambassador Paul Bremer, with the UN playing the not entirely clearly defined support role previously occupied by late Sergio Vieira De Mello, the accomplished diplomat killed in last month's bombing of UN headquarters in Baghdad. Absolutely not, say the French, Russians and Chinese. The only basis to confer UN legitimacy on the military mission, they...
...their reluctance to adopt any resolution that could be read as retrospectively sanctifying the war, and more importantly to be sanctifying the occupation. The French and their allies hold that it is only once Iraq is turned from a territory legally under U.S. occupation to a territory legally under UN control pending the restoration of its sovereignty that the international body can answer the call for help...
...Taking political control in Baghdad away from Ambassador Bremer and handing it to a UN official, however, may go far beyond what Washington is willing to accept. Given the commitment of life and treasure the U.S. has already made in Iraq, and the fact that it will likely continue to shoulder the lion's share of military and economic responsibility, Washington is unlikely to simply hand over the reins to an international diplomat. And to do so, of course, would be to admit the failure of the administration's own postwar strategy. But some of President Bush's domestic critics...