I couldn't help but cackle aloud at this Washington Post article that explains how the United States wants the UN to lift sanctions on Iraq immediately but the UN wants to wait until it can ensure its involvement in the future of Iraq. The UN is insisting that it can't lift sanctions until it Iraq's disarmament has been established, a process that naturally involves UN weapons inspectors. The US argues that its military should be able to verify the existence of WMD and thus can validate the disarmament.
I just find it funny because the US was forever in favor of sanctions that accomplished nothing towards their intended purpose and only served to wreak death and disease on a population while further strengthening its eeeeeeeevil leader. Now they pull the "we need to do what is good for the Iraqi people" line out of their ass as a card to play against the UN trying to get itself a useful and substantial role in the rebuilding of the country.
I can't imagine why the US wouldn't want the UN on board. Well, I can, but not by any rational calculation. Having as many extra multi-lateral organizations involved would only seek to dissuade those who suggest the occupation liberation of Iraq was for the sake of the US gov't first and the Iraqis second.
If anyone is interested, Foreign Affairs magazine has a pretty good article that lays out a good plan for building democracy in Iraq. My money is that the US doesn't employ anything remotely close to that though.
Posted by Nutrimentia at April 18, 2003 02:26 PM | TrackBack