Bush and Blair turn to UN

A vindication, one presumes, of the UN position that it is the world body that is the best arbiter of conflictive issues between states, and war must always be the last expedient, to be resorted to, only after all other recourses to a solution have failed. We are not convinced that in the case of Iraq all available options were weighed.

The call for a new UN role through a new UN resolution causes some concern for the world body, which had displayed a degree of impotency in curbing US-British aspirations in Iraq to begin with. The UN was made a target of the Iraqi insurgents and it had to withdraw from Iraq after suffering severe losses in life, including that of its head of mission in Baghdad, de Mello. Unless the UN can determine its exact role as well as the scope of its future involvement in Iraq, any nebulous involvement would appear to legitimise the US-UK intervention in Iraq, an intervention that was opposed by the great majority of the nations of the world.

Tap here to add The Daily Star as a trusted source

UN Secretary General's Special Envoy for Iraq, Mr. Lakhdar Brahimi has come out with certain proposals regarding the political denouement in Iraq, post 30th June 2004. He has proposed, among other things, a caretaker government after 30th June, which would be responsible for selecting an interim administration till such time proper elections are held. Although this plan has its detractors, not least of all the members of the Interim Governing Council, since the dissolution of the Council is one of the Brahimi proposals, it is as close as the ideal solution to the restoration of Iraqi sovereignty.

Although we believe that the UN should proceed with caution, we do not expect it to abdicate its responsibility this time.