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Powell: U.S. had planned to include U.N. on Iraq strategy
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell on Sunday dismissed criticism of U.S. strategy in Iraq, saying miscalculations are not the reason for Washington's push for more international support in the mission there. "We always knew the U.N. would play a role," Powell told CNN's "Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer." "The president on many occasions said he wanted the U.N. to play a vital role. Why? The president believes in the U.N., and the U.N. is the institution that brings the whole world together," he said.
After arriving in Baghdad on Sunday, Powell met with Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiaar Zeebari, the coalition-appointed Iraqi Governing Council and coalition civilian and military leaders. "There is political life returning here on a democratic basis," he said. "The Iraqi people are being presented a future so totally different from the horrible one from which they've just come out." That future will include a duly elected, sovereign government, Powell said, and the United States and its coalition partners will hand over power to that government once it is in place. The U.S. disagreement with the French over a new U.N. resolution mandating broader international cooperation in Iraq is one of timing, the secretary said.
"France believes that we ought to do this as quickly as possible, maybe even within a month," Powell said. "The only problem with that is that there is not a government that you could turn authority over to." "The last thing we want to do is set them up to fail," he added. "We want to turn the government over from us to the Iraqi people with a leadership that is elected, not one that is appointed. That rush is the flaw with the French plan." Powell said he "hoped" an agreement with the French could be reached, but, he said, "All we need for a successful resolution is nine votes." Zeebari said after his meeting with Powell that stability was a prerequisite for Iraqi sovereignty and that he hoped to see Iraq with an elected government by the middle or end of 2004. Powell also said he was impressed with the progress of the work he'd seen in Baghdad and predicted that the future Iraqi government "can be a model for this region and for the rest of the world." Earlier, Powell told reporters that terrorist infiltration posed a "major new threat" to Iraq's stability, but that the U.S.-led coalition would not allow it to derail the reconstruction of Iraq. He left Geneva, Switzerland, on Saturday after meeting with the foreign ministers of the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council about the U.S.-sponsored draft resolution bringing the international community into the rebuilding of Iraq. Powell said a proposal from the French -- who teamed with Germany and Russia to oppose the war -- was unrealistic. (Full story) U.S. control over the reconstruction of Iraq's civilian infrastructure is at the heart of the disagreements between the five permanent members, which are the United States, Britain, Russia, France and China. The United States is expected to present to the world body a single version of the draft resolution next week. Arriving for Saturday's meeting, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the talks had been cordial and instructive. International differencesDiplomats have agreed not to speak publicly about the proposals, but some details about the plans have been released. The U.S. draft resolution calls for the authorization of a multinational force under a "unified" U.S. command. It would allow the U.S.-selected governing council, together with the United States and the United Nations, to set a timetable to draft an Iraqi constitution and to hold elections. France and Germany -- one of 10 rotating members of the Security Council -- want the resolution to set a timetable to transfer authority to Iraqis. They also want greater international control over funds to reconstruct Iraq, particularly through the Development Fund for Iraq, set up to hold oil revenues. According to a previous resolution, the United States has lead authority over spending that fund, but with international oversight. In a sign of consolidation, the French-German proposal endorses the Iraqi Governing Council and the cabinet of ministers "as the trustee of Iraqi sovereignty until the processes leading to an elected and fully representative government are completed." Russia's proposal says a multinational force in Iraq should have a one-year mandate that the Security Council could extend. Under the proposal, the mandate would expire when U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan reports to the council that the "political process" had made sufficient progress and troops would no longer be needed. Diplomats said Syria and Chile, two other rotating council members, have proposed separate ideas. Syria's proposal is described by one diplomat as a call for "an internationalization of the political and economic structures of Iraq aimed to win the heart of the Iraqi population to help them accept the takeover" of the country. All of the Security Council member nations say they want power in Iraq to be transferred to Iraqis as soon as is feasible. The United States differs with these other members, though, over how the transfer should take place and how quickly it could be done.
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