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April 15,
2003
Post-War
Iraq
Asking the Right
Questions
by
Col. DAN SMITH
US Air
Force (retired)
The frustration of the American officer on the
streets of Baghdad was almost palpable in the CNN report: "They've
got 25 questions. I've got 5 answers."
That was Tuesday, April 8, the same date
President Bush, during a joint press conference with British
Prime Minister Tony Blair, declared: "Rebuilding of Iraq
will require the support and expertise of the international community.
We're committed to working with international institutions, including
the United Nations, which will have a vital role in this task."
Without question, the participation in
UN-sanctioned peacemaking and peacekeeping missions by U.S. military
units trained in the techniques of these operations often has
been vital to their success. The mere presence of strong military
forces from "coalitions of the willing" frequently
was enough to re-establish the security and stability that are
the prerequisites for the work of international institutions
and nongovernmental humanitarian relief organizations. This was
clearly the case in post-civil war Bosnia, where earlier the
insufficiently armed UN peacekeepers could not prevent atrocities,
and in Kosovo, where the U.S. took the lead in halting Slobodan
Milosevic's ethnic cleansing campaign.
But Iraq is not Bosnia or Kosovo--nor
for that matter East Timor (to which the U.S. provided materiel
support but no combat forces) or Afghanistan or Haiti. Moreover,
the troops who have fought their way to Baghdad over the past
three-plus weeks are psychologically primed to perform traditional
warfighting roles: destroying things and killing people, not
peacekeeping roles. These realities raise questions of who, how,
and what will be done in and for Iraq--and the region--in the
post-Saddam era that is just now unfolding.
Ever since the UN Security Council refused
to endorse the U.S. contention that Security Council Resolution
1441 (2002) authorized military action if Saddam Hussein failed
to actively cooperate with UN inspectors, administration spokespersons
have insisted that members of the military "coalition"
would be the dominant contributors in Iraq's reconstruction and
re-integration into the world community. Despite Mr. Blair's
attempted gloss concerning the depth of UN involvement in the
process the U.S. would allow, President Bush was quite explicit
in the limits he envisaged. While praising as "a positive
step" the appointment by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan
of a "personal representative to the process," Bush
essentially relegated the UN to a subordinate role. "Well,
it'd be a vital role as an agent to help people live freely.
That's a vital role, and that means food. That means medicine.
That means a place where people can give their contributions.
That means suggesting people for the IIA [Iraqi Interim Authority].
That means being, you know, a party to the progress being made
in Iraq."
The Pentagon's Office of Reconstruction
and Humanitarian Assistance, headed by retired U.S. General Jay
Garner, is to run Iraq in the initial post-war occupation phase.
Its missions encompass reconstituting basic services such as
electricity, water, sanitation, and medical care; screening the
remnants of the Iraqi civil service for individuals acceptable
for retention under a new democratic government; and coordinating
humanitarian aid programs run by the World Food Program (WFP),
UNESCO, the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and private
aid agencies.
Difficulties with this arrangement, which
is not yet even in place, are already apparent. Despite the efforts
of the British forces in Basra, distribution of relief supplies--a
duty of an occupying power under international law--has been
a shambles. Looting has been rampant. Without the cooperation
of the Iraqi public, the number of British troops in-country
simply are not enough to create and maintain physical security.
And this is for a city of only 1.3 million; Baghdad, which will
be the responsibility of the United States, has 5 million people.
Euphoria may dampen appetites for a short time, but clean water
and nourishing food will soon be demanded.
Moreover, General Garner's superior is
General Tommy Franks, the warfighting Central Command commander.
For those in the world who resent the dominating power of the
United States, the narrow base of influence on which Iraq is
to be reconstituted will be seen as proof of U.S. imperial ambitions--including
bases in Iraq and control of its oil--potentially spurring recruitment
into extremist groups and raising the risks of terrorist actions.
If, as the President consistently alleged, Iraq under Saddam
was a threat to the world, reconstituting and re-integrating
Iraq into the international community is the responsibility of
the world.
Then there are the costs. As Senators
Biden (D-DE) and Hagel (R-NE) recently pointed out, "Iraq
is saddled with UN sanctions, an estimated $61 billion in foreign
debt, and approximately $200 billion in reparations claims through
the UN Compensation Commission." And the estimated costs
for post-war security, humanitarian aid, and reconstruction run
from "$20-25 billion per year over 10 years." There
is no logic in the administration's insistence that, because
the U.S. chose to bear the main coalition burden in lives lost
and treasure spent, the country should also choose a course restricting
or even excluding many other countries that might be willing
to contribute to the post-war reconstruction effort--particularly
those that abstained from supporting or actually opposed military
operations.
Finally, as happened after the U.S.-influenced
meeting in Bonn, Germany that established the interim ruling
authority in Afghanistan, the selection by the U.S. of the Iraqis
who will constitute an Iraqi Interim Authority could raise doubts
as to the independence of that Authority, even among Iraqis.
This is more likely in Iraq than in Afghanistan, for there are
more exiles with little direct, recent experience in-country
vying for positions and influence in Iraq. Moreover, should those
who obtain positions in the interim authority succeed to positions
in the subsequent government, the suspicion will arise that the
"fix was in" from the very beginning.
Afghanistan does offer a cautionary note
in this regard: despite U.S. backing and fairly wide international
support, the interim authority in Afghanistan controls little
outside Kabul--and even that is due to the International Security
Assistance Force. More telling is the fact that the U.S. military
supplies the personal protection force for Afghan interim president
Hamid Karzai.
Internationalization and United Nations
are not four-letter words, literally or figuratively. Only the
UN, as flawed as it may be, can lay claim to neutrality and global
legitimacy. The U.S. recognized the status of the UN when it
sought--but failed to get--endorsement of, and thus at least
the passive participation of Member states in the war against
Iraq.
Now it is time to secure full UN participation
in meeting post-war Iraq's humanitarian, reconstruction, and
political needs. In particular, a new UN Security Council resolution
providing for a UN leadership role in Iraq would help heal the
breech created in the international community in the period leading
to active hostilities.
That much also would help relieve the
American officer's frustration over his 5 answers for the 25
questions.
Col. Dan Smith
is a military affairs analyst for Foreign Policy in Focus (online
at www.fpif.org) and a retired U.S. army colonel and Senior Fellow
on Military Affairs at the Friends Committee on National Legislation.)
He can be reached at: dan@fcnl.org
Yesterday's
Features
Chris
Floyd
Bush's War Without End
Uri Avnery
Gunboat Democracy: This is Only the Beginning
Wayne
Madsen
Americans: The New Mongols of the Mideast?
Shahid
Alam
Iqra: Iraq is Free
Hani
Shukrallah
Day of the Chicken Hawks
Terry
Jones
The Iraq Gravy Train
John
Chuckman
The Iraq War's Trashiest Piece of Propaganda
Patrick
Cockburn
US has a Lot to Answer For: Violence,
Misery and Poverty in Iraq
Steve
Perry
War Web Log 4/14
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