Posted on 04/04/2003 3:15:35 AM PST by ejdrapes
Powell rules out UN lead role in rebuilding of Iraq Colin Powell yesterday swept aside demands from European leaders for United Nations primacy in Iraq's post-war settlement, insisting that Britain and America had earned the right to set policy by sacrificing blood. Speaking at Nato headquarters during a day of 20 meetings with European foreign ministers and top officials, the US secretary of state said: "It was the coalition that came together on the difficult mission, at political expense, at expense of money and treasure, and the expense of lives as well. "When we succeed and look down the road to a better life for the Iraqi people to rebuild their society after these decades of devastation wrought by Saddam Hussein, the coalition has to play the lead role in determining the way forward." The anti-war group led by France, Germany, and Russia seemed resigned to the American domination of post-war Iraq, preferring to bury the hatchet after months of bitter wrangling with Washington rather than inflict further damage to the global security system. The German foreign minister, Joschka Fischer, said it was "pointless" to argue about the exact role of the UN while the fighting was still going on, acknowledging that the Americans needed time to stabilise the country. But he insisted that there could be no lasting settlement without the "full legitimacy of the UN". Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, who played a key role in bridging the deep rift between Washington and the Old Europe bloc, said the top priority was to put the country back in the hands of its own people as quickly as possible. "Iraq has to be run by Iraqis, not by people parachuted in from the outside," he said. In a wry vignette, a map of Iraq and booklet form of the charter of the United Nations were seen falling from his pocket as he talked to reporters. A senior British official said there was no real dispute about the need for Anglo-American forces to take charge. "The coalition is bound be in the lead role. For quite a period we'll be the basic source of law and order," he said. Mr Powell said the Nato alliance was back on track after "heated disagreements" including six weeks of paralysis as France, Germany, and Belgium refused to fulfil their treaty obligations by allowing Nato to supply Turkey with Patriot air-defence missiles. There was even a chance that Nato could take over peace-keeping tasks in Iraq, a move that would restore the credibility of an alliance that is now viewed by many in the Bush administration as an irritation. Mr Powell admitted that allied troops had so far failed to find weapons of mass destruction, but said the stockpiles were likely to be "well hidden within the Iraqi industrial infrastructure" and would take time to track down. The anti-war bloc steered away from a dispute over who will pay for the reconstruction of Iraq - and which firms will receive the huge contracts - but EU diplomats said the thorny issue was far from resolved and could become the source of fresh conflict with Washington. Dominique de Villepin, the French foreign minister, who caused outrage in Britain last week when he refused to say whether he wanted the allies to win the war, tried to calm the waters yesterday. Chastened by the spectacular display of allied military power, he told reporters that now was the time for "patience and pragmatism", conceding that coalition forces needed a free hand for the moment. • The United States is to approach G7 allies for help with the cost of rebuilding post-war Iraq, the US treasury secretary, John Snow, said yesterday. Mr Snow said he would be raising the question of Iraq's reconstruction with finance ministers from the world's largest industrialised nations next week, on the fringes of World Bank and International Monetary Fund meetings in Washington.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard in Brussels
And the reason for that would be? These people really think that the world can't get along without them.... LOL
Uh huh. Sounds like these three finally figured out they may well be cut out of the spoils, so to speak.
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