Posted on 04/08/2003 7:55:10 AM PDT by Happy2BMe
HILLSBOROUGH, Northern Ireland, April 8 — U.S. President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Tuesday voiced confidence that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was losing control and endorsed a “vital role” for the United Nations in postwar Iraq. But the two leaders fell short on postwar specifics that would appease countries suspicious of U.S. intentions.
WASHINGTON AND London hope their agreed vision of the postwar stages in Iraq will placate antiwar nations such as France, Germany and Russia, and allay widespread international suspicion of U.S. motives in Iraq.
“We are of course agreed, as we say in our joint statement, that there will be a vital role for the United Nations in the reconstruction of Iraq,” Blair told a news conference at his summit meeting with Bush in Northern Ireland.
Bush used the same words and added he wanted Iraq to move fast toward establishing an interim authority of Iraqis.
“We will move as quickly as possible to place governmental responsibilities under the control of an interim authority composed of Iraqis from both inside and outside the country,” Bush told the news conference at Hillsborough Castle.
“The interim authority will serve until a permanent government can be chosen by the Iraqi people,” he added.
“Rebuilding of Iraq will require the support and expertise of the international community. We are committed to working with international institutions, including the United Nations, which will have a vital role to play in this task.”
But when pressed on what precisely the U.N. role would be, Bush mentioned only humanitarian work and “suggesting” people for the interim authority.
Questioned for details on that “vital role,” Bush defined it thus: “That means being a party to the progress being made in Iraq.”
Blair urged the world to avoid “endless diplomatic wrangles” over the future of Iraq like those over possible U.N. authorization of force before the war started.
The British leader, who has stood by Bush throughout the crisis, said the “new Iraq” that would emerge after the war would be run by the Iraqi people not by Britain, the United States or the United Nations.
Public consumption back home in the rank and file of his party.
Michael
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