home > by publication type > daily analysis > U.S. and UN Shift on Iraq
Email
| Prepared by: |
|---|
Despite the skepticism of many observers, the UN seeks to continue and strengthen its relief efforts in Iraq. (AP Images/Jockel Finck)
Four years after a suicide bomb ripped through UN headquarters in Baghdad, killing envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello and 21 members of his staff, the Security Council is expanding the UN’s role (Guardian) in Iraq in an effort to rein in sectarian violence. The world body has vowed to focus on national reconciliation in the ethnically-splintered nation, increase humanitarian aid, and attend to human rights. The Security Council vote on August 10 marks a symbolic if vague course correction for the UN after years of security concerns forced a low profile. The resolution allows for a modest increase (NYT) in UN personnel—though still considerably less than its presence before the 2003 bombing—and staff members recently complained about the plan’s lack of attention (al-Jazeera) to security.
Yet the renewed UN commitment to Iraq signals more than a staffing increase: It is an about-face for the United States, and some worry, a life boat shot through with holes. The United States and its allies went to war without Security Council backing, and some question whether the UN’s legitimacy will be undermined (Gulf News) by the appearance of a bailout. Jeffrey Laurenti, a senior fellow at The Century Foundation, warned weeks before the vote that a UN rescue mission would be doomed, or even targeted by insurgents, without a promise from the United States to draw down troops. Others question how the UN can bolster its mission (Newsday) with a unionized staff that clearly wants out.
The discussion wasn’t even on the table in 2003, when the United States appeared uninterested in UN help. Then last month, almost four years to the day, the Bush administration made its most public appeal for course correction. In a New York Times op-ed, the current ambassador, Zalmay Khalilzad, suggested that a greater UN presence would help lend credibility and help “internationalize” recovery efforts. A CFR.org interview with former Ambassador William H. Luers explores the policy shift. Khalilzad praised the resolution as “a new page” in Iraq, while UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the decision. A smattering of Iraq’s neighbors also offered accolades, and Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has reportedly embraced the idea (AP).
Amid the cheers, however, come notes of caution. In a recent Foreign Affairs article, Republican presidential candidate Rudolph Giuliani, reflecting a thought common on the American right, said the UN has “proved irrelevant” in resolving “almost every major dispute of the last 50 years.” The UN itself offered a cautionary analysis. A June 5 quarterly update on UN assistance activities for Iraq warns that security threats are so high that “the only way to sustain the mission in the coming months” is to construct hardened facilities in Baghdad. The report by UN special envoy Ashraf Jehangir Qazi says redeployment of British forces in Basra led to the withdrawal of UN staff in that region due to declining security. The latest resolution leaves some wiggle room, suggesting that expansion efforts will materialize only “as circumstances permit.” Yet security remains a challenge in Iraq. The UN is seeking $130 million (Guardian) for the construction of a fortified compound in Baghdad, though funding remains a question mark. A spokeswoman for the U.S. mission to the UN tells CFR.org the United States has made no specific earmark for UN security in the Iraqi capital aside from normal expenditures.
Weigh in on this issue by emailing CFR.org.
In The Closing of the American Border, Edward Alden goes behind the scenes to tell the story of the Bush administration’s struggle to balance security and openness in the wake of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
In Termites in the Trading System, Jagdish Bhagwati reveals how the rapid spread of preferential trade agreements endangers the world trading system.
America Between the Wars explores how the decisions and debates of the years between the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Twin Towers shaped the events, arguments, and politics of the world we live in today.
Complete list of CFR Books.
This report lays out a thoughtful agenda for U.S. policy toward the Democratic Republic of Congo, arguing that what happens there should matter to the United States--for humanitarian reasons as well as economic and strategic ones.
In this report, CFR Senior Fellow Michael A. Levi analyzes the potential use of deterrence in preventing terrorist groups from acquiring nuclear weapons and recommends a new approach to U.S. declaratory policy, as well as ways to improve U.S. capabilities to determine the sources of terrorist attacks.
Complete list of Council Special Reports.
This report argues that the United States must lead with domestic action on climate change and proposes a U.S. negotiating strategy for a global UN climate agreement that includes commitments from all major economies, while also promoting a less formal Partnership for Climate Cooperation that would focus the world's largest emitters on implementing aggressive emissions reductions.
This Task Force report examines changes in Latin America and in U.S. influence there, while taking account of the region's enduring importance to the United States. The Task Force offers an agenda for U.S. policy toward Latin America and identifies four critical areas that should provide the basis of a new U.S. approach.
About Independent Task Forces at CFR.
Foreign Affairs has compiled a collection of articles that offer policy prescriptions to some of the world's most pressing problems.
To order Task Force reports, Council Special Reports, and Critical Policy Choices, please call, fax, or order online from our distributor, the Brookings Institution Press: phone +1.800.537.5487, fax +1.410.516.6998.
For information on other reports that are not for sale, or for general publications information, please call +1-212-434-9516 or email publications@cfr.org.
To request permission to reuse Council materials, please email publications@cfr.org or fax +1.212.434.9859.
Please include the complete information of the requested work—author, title, sections/pages to be copied or reprinted, and number of copies to be made—along with a brief description of where and how you would like to reuse the work.
You may also request permission for Council material through Copyright Clearance Center. For more information, please click on the link below.
Copyright 2008 by the Council on Foreign Relations. All Rights Reserved.
Global Economy 