Posted on 11/12/2003 4:52:58 PM PST by Brian S
By Charles Clover in Baghdad, James Harding and Guy Dinmore in Washington and Roula Khalaf in London
Published: November 12 2003 19:47 | Last Updated: November 12 2003 19:47
US President George W. Bush on Wednesday held urgent talks with his national security team about a fundamental shift in Iraq strategy to accelerate the return of self-government, as the coalition forces were struck by a bomb attack that killed at least 25 people.
The truck bomb in the southern city of Nasiriya killed eight Iraqis and at least 17 Italian service personnel, marking Italy's highest military death toll since the second world war.
The attack came as the Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper reported that a CIA report had been delivered to the White House, warning that a growing number of Iraqis were losing faith in the US-led coalition and that the insurgents were becoming increasingly confident.
Paul Bremer, chief US administrator in Iraq, who was summoned back at short notice to attend Wednesday's meeting, emerged from the White House emphasising the need for a swift handover to self-government. But he emphasised the role the US-appointed interim Governing Council would play in pushing through a faster timetable to self-rule.
Officials in Washington have voiced growing frustration at the Governing Council, which they say has proved dysfunctional and self-interested. The US has been concerned that its members would fail to meet the deadline of December 15, set in United Nations resolution 1511, to agree a timetable and structure for drafting a new Iraqi constitution and the holding of elections.
Washington's envoys in Baghdad are said to have been most concerned by suggestions from the council that it could take two to three years to hold elections - a timetable that would not fit with Bush administration hopes of showing success in Iraq before the 2004 presidential election.
Following growing speculation that the Bush administration is looking to circumvent or disband the council, Mr Bremer made clear on Wednesday the US was eager to work through the structure. "I don't think it's fair to say the [council] is failing," he said.
US officials have told France, the most forceful opponent of the war, that their visions for Iraq are converging. European diplomats say the US is exploring ways of moving towards the establishment of an interim Iraqi government, as advocated by France and Germany, and also supported by the UK.
In effect, the US is considering reversing the "seven steps to sovereignty" plan launched by Mr Bremer over the summer, whereby the US would only transfer full authority and sovereignty at the end of the process of writing a constitution, approving it through a referendum and then holding elections.
Donald Rumsfeld, US defence secretary, gave the narrowest definition expressed to date by the administration of what the US would consider as success in order to complete its exit strategy.
"The success is defined as transferring sovereignty to the Iraqi people and transferring the capability, assuring the capability of the Iraqis to provide for their own security," he told Fox News. He made no mention of elections.
Bull. It's thoes 'US officials' again. If they exists, they're probably democrats.
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