The Aftermath..
It's now the issue..in Iraq and in the world... Is Tony's version realistic.. even remotely possible..?
Tony promises to persuade the US that it cannot rule Iraq alone... the US needs the UN not just for humanitarian aid, but for reconstruction... the US needs the UN for money, for legitimacy and to avoid inflaming the Arab world.
"Iraq for the Iraqis," says Tony...
As for the French and Germans, they will see the error of their ways and hasten to rebuild good relations with the US.. Might begin with a meeting such as the UN-sponsored Bonn conference that determined Afghanistan's postwar settlement..
Britain will prove it is again a strong bridge between the US and EU.. George will head off down the roadmap to peace in Palestine, while Iraq holds free elections, the Arab world sees a beacon of democracy in their midst and the world is a safer place.
Hoo Rah.
All that would be excellent. The only trouble with TonyWorld East is that it is exceedingly difficult to find anyone anywhere who believes it will happen - certainly not the White House. That is not their vision at all, as Powell made brutally clear yesterday. They have done the fighting, so why hand the peace over to the French and Russians on the security council..?
Really now..
The UN can work it's humanitarian efforts.. hoping all the while it does better than Umm Qasr.. but not a single US soldier will wear a blue hat.
Instead General Jay Garner and his battery of 24 Pentagon-approved Americans will run every ministry, with a tame Iraqi exile each. Contracts will not be awarded by a UN procurement process.. the thought being why give the French or Russians anything?
A new Iraqi government will be US and Israel-friendly.. and what might happen when the Iraqis don't vote that way is.. well.. just blanked out of their minds.
It gets worse... or more interesting.. depending on one's perspective..
John Bolton, assistant secretary of state, visiting the Royal Institute of Foreign Affairs in London, is already musing publicly on a coming pre-emptive strike on Iran. Russia is building Iran a nuclear capability that could give it weapons within months,said he. Better to knock it out first - a necessity as soon as it is spoken. For Iran faced with Iraq as a US satellite on one side with Israel's nuclear power on the other will respond to this pincer threat.
The director of the Royal Institute listened to Bolton aghast... damn near spilled his cuppa..
US conviction that a free Iraq will spread light and freedom all about it is not shared by those who know the region.
Anyone recall Baby Huey.. the comic book..?