Iraq Reconstructing
Iraq and keeping the peace could
be more difficult than the war itself. In the immediate short-term Saddam
Hussein will be replaced by George
Bush in administering Iraq
and the US President has specific
obligations under International law to look after the welfare of the
Iraqi people.
The popular view is that the US
should hand over power to the UN which would supervise a slow but steady
process of reconstruction. At a summit
in St Petersburg, Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and French President Jacques Chirac called for a central role for the UN in rebuilding Iraq.
However, the US
favoured model of installing essentially a puppet government seems
the more likely outcome as the US
wants to turn Iraq into significant
strategic asset for the US in
the Middle East. The US and Britain
say that the UN should play a 'vital' role in rebuilding Iraq
but its role had not been defined. Paul
Wolfowitz US Deputy Defense
Secretary told
the US Senate Armed Services Committee that the United Nations 'can't
be in charge'. Britain
has argued for a central UN role in post-war Iraq
but Washington wants the UN role to be limited to humanitarian
aid.
The challenge for the US
is to win the hearts and minds both inside Iraq
and the wider region. To succeed, the US
must not only provide coordinated humanitarian aid and meet its obligations
under the Geneva Convention, but the reconstruction process must be as
generously resourced as the fighting.
Back to Main
