Posted on 04/16/2003 10:03:58 AM PDT by Remedy
As "Coalition of the Willing" forces put the finishing touches on a spectacular military triumph in Iraq without UN assistance, Secretary-General Kofi Annan and leaders of the three pro-Saddam countries are plotting ways for the UN to play the "central role" in post-war Iraq. During his tenure as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations in the 1970s, the late Daniel Patrick Moynihan, referred to such shenanigans as the "theatre of the absurd." President Bush should ignore their shameless effort.
Global ideologues and U.S. liberals try to paint the UN as a credible and moral force in keeping the peace, protecting human rights, and serving as an effective instrument to promote worldwide freedom and democracy.
But facts do not justify this level of support for the UN – and the distorted picture of that deeply flawed institution that they promote is not a true representation of reality. For example:
But the primary blame for the most recent debacle in the UN Security Council cannot be placed on the shoulders of countries with less than desirable governments. Anti-war leaders of the Paris, Berlin and Moscow Axis bear this responsibility.
One may wonder what motivated Chirac, Schroeder and Putin. It's money and lots of it. For example, with Saddam remaining in power, French firms stood to earn an estimated $50 billion to develop Iraq’s oil reserves which rank second in the world. Russia is Iraq's largest arms supplier and is owed an estimated $8 billion. Direct and indirect trade between Germany and Iraq total hundreds of millions of dollars annually. And the UN is not sacrosanct. It has assessed administrative handling fees for the Iraqi Oil-for-Food Program placing about $1.2 billion into the UN coiffeur. These business relationships are at risk with the demise of Saddam's regime.
Failing in their efforts to prevent the United States and a coalition of 50 nations from deposing the ruthless dictator, these UN stalwarts are now plotting ways to insinuate the UN into rebuilding and reshaping Iraq after the war – even though they opposed and did not participate in the war. It is a thinly disguised and shameless effort to protect their interests. France's Chirac brazenly says the UN alone must rebuild Iraq. And Kofi Annan believes that only the UN can legitimize the effort.
That they would advance such a suggestion is quite preposterous. UN efforts at rebuilding countries are poor, at best. Just look at what happened in Cambodia where it managed to allow a despot to take over the government and Kosovo where, four years and 2.4 billion in international aid later, it still hasn’t turned over the reigns of government to the people of that country.
The United States and its military, on the other hand, have a stellar record in rebuilding countries and turning totalitarian governments and dictatorships into vibrant democracies. Germany, Japan, South Korea and the Philippines are stunning examples of American success and goodwill.
The United States already has a civil administrative group on ground in Iraq ready to temporarily manage the country’s affairs. It will handle and coordinate security and humanitarian and civil needs before an Interim Iraqi Authority – composed of Iraqis from within and outside of the country – takes over the government in about six months. In about two years, the President expects Iraq to transition to a fully-fledged democratic government. When it does it could have a profound effect on the security of the region. Just imagine what the terror capitol of the world will look like if the seeds of democracy take root and spread to other Middle East countries.
President Bush is wise to keep the UN from interfering with this important task. He envisions a UN role limited to delivering humanitarian needs such as food, water and medicine. Based on its portfolio and history, this is all we can reasonably and morally expect the UN to do. It cannot be trusted to rebuild Iraq.
Fred Gedrich is a senior policy analyst at Freedom Alliance.
Democratic Imperialism: A Blueprint only a democratic transformation of Iraq, and eventually of the larger Arab world, can provide long-term security against terrorism and nuclear attack.
....Some elements of the Bush administration prefer to work through traditional Arab elites, while others remain intent on relatively rapid democratization.
If the Iraqi returnees turn out to be poor democratizers, or if America finds it difficult to exercise great and lasting influence without quite seeming to do so, the chances of an Arab nationalist reaction or internal American divisions are high. Certainly, one reasonable response to this scenario is refusal to engage in a long-term occupation at all.
Rage, Hubris, and Regime Change The remarkably successful reconstruction of Germany took place in the context of a Germany that, prior to Nazism, had constitutional, juridical, and even political elements consistent with liberal capitalist democracy.
As for Japan, it took four years of war, two nuclear devices, a thoroughly devastated Japanese economy and society, the consequent discrediting of the emperor-centered militaristic polity, a Japanese culture built on hierarchical organization and obedience, and, as John W. Dower notes in his magisterial work on the Occupation, a country accustomed to the imposition of foreign models - the Meiji experience being a major example, one that occurred within the lifetime of some Japanese - to offer itself as a candidate for democratic transformation.
Creating a civil society and democratic government will take a miracle.
New Petition: Transform Iraq into beacon Albert Yelda, an Assyrian Christian with influence over more than 1.5 million Iraqi Christians, including Assyrians and Chaldeans. Yelda, cofounder of the Iraqi National Congress, split off from the Moslem-dominated group in 1999 to form the Iraqi National Coalition. He has been part of the Iraqi opposition since 1973, while living in Iraq.
The Bush administration must understand the need for a government not controlled by any one religion, like elsewhere in the Middle East. To promote and groom only Shi'ite groups, such as the "supreme council of Islamic revolution in Iraq," Iraqi communists and "ex" Baath party members to key positions in the post-Saddam government is a mistake. Members of such groups are today in Washington D.C. Pro-democracy figures of the Iraqi opposition must not be ignored.
USATODAY.com - Ex-Iraq officers discuss ousting Saddam Albert Yelda, co-founder of the Iraqi National Coalition, said the meeting would be the largest gathering ever of exiled Iraqi officers. He said they hope to unify those in exile and still inside Iraq in "establishing a democratic regime where the Iraqis, Assyrians, Christians, Muslims, Arabs, Kurds and Turkomans can live peacefully and equally."
Professorial Pundits Place Iraq Bets No one reasonably expects professors of Middle Eastern studies to predict military outcomes. But political outcomes, especially in the long term, are supposed to be their forte. And so here, for the record, are the predictions of four chaired professors of Middle Eastern studies, at leading American universities. At the end of the day, events will prove two of them right, and two of them wrong.
Headline should be "UN Can Not Find Butt With Both Hands", with Democrats holding a mirror.
Junk the U.N.
the United States should have to go hat in hand to a bunch of Third-World Kalashnikovocracies begging for authorization
The UN will never have credibility with a free Iraqi people!
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