At the U.N., Bush Wins No Fresh Pledges of Iraq Aid
U.S. Military Action's Value Has Limits, Delegates Say
By Colum Lynch
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 24, 2003; Page A24
UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 23 -- President Bush's appeal for greater financial and military support for the reconstruction of Iraq failed to elicit fresh pledges today as members of the United Nations demanded that the United States yield greater power to the U.N. and the Iraqis.
The cool reaction to Bush's address by delegates at the opening of the U.N. General Assembly's general debate reflected concern at the United Nations that a larger military force in Iraq will not enhance security in the country unless authority also is transferred to a transitional Iraqi authority with real power.
Representatives from Brazil to South Africa used the General Assembly podium to underscore the limits of U.S. military action in resolving the dispute in Iraq and elsewhere. They said the obstacles faced by U.S. forces in Iraq prove the need for a greater U.N. role.
"Let us not place greater trust on military might than on the institutions we created with the light of reason and the vision of history," President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil said in a speech to the 191-member body moments before Bush delivered his remarks. "A war can perhaps be won single-handedly, but peace, lasting peace, cannot be secured without the support of all."
U.S. officials acknowledged they are resigned to the probability that a new U.N. Security Council resolution on Iraq -- which the Bush administration is proposing -- will not lead to a surge in commitments by key Muslim states, including Pakistan and Turkey, to send troops to the country.
One U.S. official said the administration hoped that Bush's speech would at least persuade governments to provide more money for Iraq's reconstruction at a donors' conference to be held in Madrid next month. "The expectation is that we are not going to get a great number of troops to participate," the official said. "But we want them to provide funds at the donor conference and we will try to make that happen."
Discussions over the U.N. role in Iraq have been complicated by two suicide bombing attacks against the United Nations in Iraq over the past month, most recently on Monday. In the Aug. 19 bombing of the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad, 22 people were killed, including the U.N.'s top representative, Brazilian diplomat Sergio Vieira de Mello.
Some senior advisers to U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan have asked him to consider withdrawing, or at least sharply reducing, the presence of U.N. personnel in Iraq after Monday's attack outside the U.N. compound, which killed the bomber and an Iraqi guard.
Annan also warned the Security Council last week that he will not expand the U.N. presence in Iraq unless he is given a clearer mandate, stronger council backing and greater assurances of security. Some of Annan's top advisers believe that security can best be achieved by returning sovereignty to the Iraqis, not by increasing the international military presence there.
The debate over Iraq in the General Assembly today revealed a deeper unease over the United States' increasing use of force to defend its national interests. "Naturally, the powerful will set the agenda for all residents of the global village," South African President Thabo Mbeki said. "Because we are poor, we are partisan activists for a strong, effective and popularly accepted United Nations."
Delegates welcomed Bush's decision to launch new negotiations on a resolution that would assign the United Nations a specific role in helping to write an Iraqi constitution, training an Iraqi civil service and preparing for free elections. But they said the president's proposal does not go far enough.
French President Jacques Chirac continued to seek support for an amendment to the U.S. draft resolution that would endorse the transfer of power to an Iraqi transitional government within 90 days.
Bush and his top foreign policy team -- who filed out of the General Assembly hall shortly before Chirac delivered his speech -- favor the establishment of a constitutional process and elections before sovereignty can be handed to the Iraqis.
The French position has gained broader acceptance in recent days. The temporary president of the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council, Ahmed Chalabi, and Annan indicated that the United States must accelerate the handover of power to the Iraqis.
© 2003 The Washington Post Company
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