By Paul Reynolds
BBCMay 6, 2003
An international peacekeeping or stabilisation force for Iraq is taking shape - but it is also taking criticism because it will operate outside United Nations control and will exclude troops from France, Germany and Russia. It will be seen by critics as a bad example for the future though it is justified by the United States, Britain and countries willing to take part as a practical way forward in view of the disagreements in the UN about the war. Under plans revealed in an outline by a senior American official, Iraq will be split into three sectors.
A division of US troops, about 20,000 soldiers, will run the central sector including Baghdad. Britain will command the southern sector and Poland, which sent a small contingent of troops to fight in the war, will command the north. The Polish Foreign Minister Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz has said that the force should be on the ground in Iraq by the end of May. "We understand that it is our responsibility to stay there," he said, "Not only guaranteeing security and order but with a lot of know-how of how to democratise the political system."
UK's man in Iraq
Britain meanwhile has appointed a senior diplomat, John Sawyers, as a Special Representative to Iraq. He will work for a few months on the setting up of the Iraqi Interim Authority (IIA). John Sawyers has been ambassador to Cairo, used to work as a foreign policy adviser to the Prime Minister and is due to take up the post of Foreign Office Political Director later this year. The short term nature of his appointment shows that Britain wants the IIA to take over the administration of Iraq as soon as possible. Apart from the US, UK and Poland, countries reported to be interested in the stabilisation force include Ukraine, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Bulgaria, Albania, the Czech Republic, Denmark and the Netherlands. The role of Qatar, the Philippines, South Korea and Australia is being discussed.
Left out
Notable by their absence are Arab countries other than Qatar and the leading critics of the war - France, Germany and Russia. So not only is the UN being bypassed, but what the US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld once dismissed as "Old Europe" is also being excluded. The force, it said, would operate in a total legal vacuum. Talks about the force were held in London last week and are now getting down to detailed military level. For example, it looks as if Dutch troops will come under British command in the South. Dutch marines have for long provided a company to fight alongside British Royal Marines, though they did not take part in the recent war.
French criticism
Already there has been French criticism of the plan. The newspaper Le Monde said that Washington was preparing to deploy the force without seeking the slightest mandate from the Security Council. The force, it said, would operate in a total legal vacuum. The mission was not defined by any international authority or accepted by an Iraqi political authority which did not yet exist. It would be dangerous for that authority and for Iraq and a "terrible example." The Spanish paper El Mundo was worried. Spain was about to enter the eye of the Iraqi storm, it said, by supplanting the UN role. A government which always said that the UN would play a substantial role was taking on serious risks.
New UN resolution
British officials say that while the UN would not play a direct role in the force, a new Security Council resolution being drawn up for discussion by the US and UK would give umbrella approval for new governmental arrangements in Iraq. The resolution has not yet been presented to other Security Council members, the officials said, but it would be a "jumbo" resolution seeking to wrap up a number of issues, such as ending sanctions, continuing the oil for food programme and approving the Interim Iraqi Administration due to be set up in the next few weeks. British diplomats expect a tough negotiation with France and Russia, which to different degrees oppose lifting sanctions until Iraq is formally declared free of weapons of mass destruction as called for in existing resolutions.
More Information on Iraq
FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Global Policy Forum distributes this material without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
