I am amazed that the TNR Blogger got so far out of line. I wonder what kind of Iraqi debt deal we made to get this support.
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Three Countries Give U.S. a Key Iraq Concession
Greater U.N. Role Will Not Be Sought
By Colum Lynch
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 15, 2003; Page A01
UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 14 -- France, Russia and Germany on Tuesday dropped their demands that the United States grant the United Nations a central role in Iraq's reconstruction and yield power to a provisional Iraqi government in the coming months.
The move constituted a major retreat by the Security Council's chief antiwar advocates, and signaled their renewed willingness to consider the merits of a U.S. resolution aimed at conferring greater international legitimacy on its military occupation of Iraq.
All three countries seem willing to accept a resolution that would retain U.S. authority over Iraq's political future while extending only a symbolic measure of sovereignty to Iraqis. But a major sticking point remains: The three governments made new demands, including setting a timetable for ending the U.S. military occupation in Iraq and strengthening the Security Council's role in monitoring Iraq's political transition.
Still, the shift by the United States' toughest critics in the 15-nation council has placed the Bush administration within reach of a diplomatic victory a week after it was on the verge of withdrawing the resolution, officials here said. Although U.S. officials acknowledge adopting the resolution is unlikely to bring new troops or resources from other countries, they say the U.N. imprimatur would help legitimize the U.S. occupation and the Iraqi Governing Council -- and help defuse opposition in Iraq.
Late Tuesday, John D. Negroponte, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said he would call for a Security Council vote Wednesday. U.S. officials wanted a vote before President Bush and Secretary of State Colin L. Powell leave Thursday for Asia on separate trips.
The Bush administration refused to incorporate the French, Russian and German demands for a timetable for the transfer of power in a revised text presented to the council last night -- and indicated the United States would soon call their bluff.
"We will look for people to face reality and decide whether they will support this process or not," a senior U.S. official said.
The administration arrived at this point with an intensive diplomatic campaign. It was designed, in the words of a senior U.S. official, to neutralize the resolution's chief critic, France, by accommodating suggestions from Russia and Germany that were "more practical, more realistic and easier to take into account."
U.S. diplomats also addressed concerns by U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan that it would be too dangerous to send U.N. workers back into Iraq for the time being. Under the language of the resolution being promoted by the United States, Annan can delay sending U.N. personnel into Iraq to assume a political role "until circumstances permit."
Finally, the United States focused on every member of the council -- not just the veto-wielding permanent members -- to guarantee they could obtain at least the nine votes required to pass the resolution.
In a telephone conference call Tuesday morning, French President Jacques Chirac, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to a joint new position that includes six proposed amendments to the U.S. draft resolution.
Their proposal states that the civilian and military authority of the United States and its military allies "shall expire" once an internationally recognized government is sworn in. It calls for establishing a "national-dialogue" to involve a wider cross-section of Iraq's political leaders in the country's negotiations on a new constitution.
It envisions a role for the Security Council, working with the U.S.-led coalition and the Iraqi Governing Council, in considering a timetable for a constitution and elections. And it calls on the United States, in consultation with the Iraqi Council and the U.N. secretary general, to "develop a specific schedule" for transferring power to the Iraqi people and submitting it to the U.N. Security Council.
"We think it is moving in the right direction," Sergey Lavrov, Russia's U.N. ambassador, said of the United States' latest draft. But he added: "Some of the elements which are crucial to the success of the Security Council discussions are not very clear . . . so we worked out amendments which are designed to clarify those parts of the resolution."
The Bush administration took some of the provisions on board in its latest draft. But it refused to accept any new timetables and rejected a proposed role for the Secretary General in reporting to the council when an internationally recognized government has been sworn in and the U.N.-mandated multinational force expires. The United States insisted that the mandate should be allowed to continue if requested by a new Iraqi government.
Annan said he was disappointed with the resolution because it does not set the stage for a swift transfer of power to a provisional Iraqi government, but said he could live with it.
Staff writer Glenn Kessler contributed to this report.
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