Bush officially embraces UN involvement in Iraq

The Detroit News ^ | 4/17/04 | Maura Reynolds

[South40]

WASHINGTON -- Culminating a policy reversal toward the United Nations, President Bush officially embraced a plan Friday that would give the world body a more prominent role -- perhaps even the central role -- in guiding Iraq

[DoughtyOne]

Why do we waste time and treasure on that pi$$-ant organization?

They hate or nation and trash our allies.

They want to end religion as we know it, giving it hate crime status.

Once and for all Mr. President, get with the program and withdraw from this evil empire in the making.

[Qwinn]

UNOFFICIALLY, Bush is snickering to himself. "The progressives are so hot on the U.N.? Okay - fine. Let's put -them- in the hot seat, with the whole world watching them, and watch how pathetically they botch it up and the Iraqis beg us to get rid of them. Then maybe we'll -never- have to deal with this stupid "The U.N. would have done a better job" meme again."

Qwinn

[rrrod]

Note to GWB: bring in the UN and you will lose a lot of your base. The uproar from the right may even result in congressional races going to the RATS

[Lib-Lickers 2]

this is good news,, if it goes bad they get the blame and it's just another issue Kerry won't have to hang on Bush,,

[pawdoggie]

The distortion here is that the President has consistently asked for a UN presence in Iraq, from the beginning. It was the UN that decided not to authorize a UN force, and when they finally got around to establishing a HQ in Iraq, they were chased away by suicide bombers.

[StuckinIA]

Anyone with half a neuron knows that as soon as Ali-Baba farts the UN will skidmark its way out of Iraq faster than you can say "Cheap oil!" at the...errr...UN. Bush needs to stop pantywasting to these Deutshbags and let the rest of the unedjumacated US poops know how corrupt this agency is. The same agency that Hermann Botox has been creaming himself over us bowing down to.
I am confident that Bush is just playing with folks.

[MJY1288]

The only thing the U.N. has ever done successfully is conducting and supervising elections, The provisional Constitution that spells out the legal path to give sovereignty back to the Iraqi's was subject to our oversight and is now in place. All the U.N. will do is negotiate the implementation of it, as the final Constitution is ratified and national elections are held.

The U.N. will not control the policy, they will simply give their stamp of approval and over see the elections. Read the provisional Constitution that CPA ratified 60 days ago, it's all part of the plan set forth and is on schedule

[aft_lizard]

No the base wont run. But the liberal media and elites will call him a flip flopper.

[Lib-Lickers 2]

flip flopping what?,, Bush has been asking the UN to do more in Iraq for 2 years,,

[texasflower]

White House officials declined to describe the president’s shift as a change in policy, saying it was consistent with their months-old promise that the United Nations would play a “vital” role in postwar Iraq.

“The president all along said that the United Nations has a vital role to play in the political process in Iraq,” said White House spokesman Scott McClellan.

[DustyMoment]

I'm really uncomfortable with this. It's clearly a policy reversal that provides an open door to the Dems to exploit to the hilt. I'm waiting for the opening salvo any day.

The UN cut and run with the first bomb targeted toward them by the Islamofacists. Subsequently, Kofi Annan declared that Iraq was too dangerous for them. So, how does this make them better suited to administer Iraq than the US?

This is a bad idea and a bad policy. Bush has wasted too much time fooling with the UN and shouldn't be endorsing this.

[samtheman]

The UN was already in once. Then they cut and ran, tail between their legs. Let's see how long they stay this time.

[LibLieSlayer]

It amazes me how many Freepers do NOT listen to what "OUR" President says. He has asked for UN involvement in Iraq from day one.

I see many responses each day that are by "so-called" supporters, that either have the facts distorted of what the President has said, have them out of context, or have them completely wrong.

We are in far too dire of times to be so lazy. Open your eyes and ears, and see and hear the truth.

LLS

[meenie]

The proper role for the UN is to close up the building, pack the diplomats bags and go home. The proper role for the US is to cordone off the different regions and ethnic groups, hold elections to choose their tribal leaders, and make a hasty withdrawal. Trying to unload the problems of Iraq onto the UN, NATO, or coalition of the willing just prolongs the inevitable. We have provided the service of ridding the Iraqi people of a dictator that was horrible.

Any pretense of establishing a centralized democracy at the point of a gun, in a country as divided, ethnically and religiously as Iraq is fantasy. We will probably go the LBJ route of escalation, intensification, and destruction until reason seeps in that the effort is fruitless. How many times do we have to go to the well for water before we realize as a nation we are not the great overseer of all things in the world other than our own defense?

[mewzilla]

The president may want Iraqi involvement. Has anyone bothered to ask Iraqis whay they want? The UN was Saddamn's handmaiden. I couldn't blame the Iraqis if they wanted the UN to take a long walk off a short pier. All I can say is 43 better have the UN by the short hairs. They need to pay for what they helped do to Iraq.

[q_an_a]

what a bunch of crap. The UN was blown out of Iraq months ago. They cut and ran. They could not protect their own with their PeaceKeepers or the help of the Iraqi people.

Maybe the Oil for Food program, makes the UN about as popular in Iraq as in the USA.

The reason Bush and Blair want the UN is so they can bring in a few more Arab countries to supervise the election and teach the people of Egypt, Libya and Lebanon how to run an election.

[samtheman]

The proper role for the US is to cordone off the different regions and ethnic groups, hold elections to choose their tribal leaders, and make a hasty withdrawal.

I think you're on the right track, but a bit off on the details. I would put it like this:

The proper role for the US is to launch the self-governing process with the June 30 handover (as planned) and withdraw to a set of temporary bases (making sure they're well-secured against attack) and then later withdrawing further to one or two permanent bases in the Kurdish territory (with the Kurds permission, which we'd get).

[tomakaze]

re:Bush officially embraces UN involvement in Iraq
 
Damn, but entirely predictable.

[LibLieSlayer]

"Has anyone bothered to ask Iraqis whay they want? The UN was Saddamn's handmaiden".

Why yes, I believe "someone" has. After all, it was Sistani that demanded that the UN be involved in helping to set up Iraq's election process. Sistani set it as a pre-condition to his signing onto the "Framework" for a new Iraqi Constitution.

LLS