Backwards to the Future for Iraq; Bush Goes to the U.N.

by Armed Liberal at September 3, 2003 11:13 PM

I'm really unhappy about the Administration's new approach to the U.N. in search of troops, financial support, and legitimacy for the Iraq occupation.

I'm unhappy for four reasons.

First, and foremost, I'm unhappy because I think that the U.N. as presently constituted is damn unlikely to be a positive force in Iraq. The forces within Germany and France that traded oil for weapons with Saddam will see this as a way to avoid the scrutiny they deserve, and the dysfunctional U.N. will itself see this as a shot in the arm, keeping it from going through the changes it needs to become a truly effective and legitimate international organization, as opposed to what it is...a corrupt debating club, that is used to provide diplomatic cover for oligarchs, kleptocrats, and the corporate and political bureaucrats who serve them.

Second, I'm unhappy because the one thing I know we need to succeed in this war is an iron butt...the patience and solidity to just stick it out long after it stops being comfortable. And this feels to me like a demonstration that the anticipation of discomfort is backing us way up on the positions we've taken up to now.

Third, I'm unhappy because we've wasted what should have been a political and diplomatic opportunity to create a new set of ad hoc international structures more to our liking and, more important, more likely to be effective in the current conflict; whether the alliances would have been with Russia or Brazil, India or Norway. Instead of sticking it out and doing the diplomatic horsetrading that we should have done...and I'm hard pressed to believe that there weren't horses to trade...we looked our opponents in the eyes, raised big, and then folded at the next opportunity.

Finally, I'm unhappy because this will make any followup to Iraq...whether it involves pressure on Iran or Syria...vastly more difficult, as we'll be dependent on the goodwill...if such a thing exists...of the U.N.

I think there is a chance to reform the U.N. and the existing international organizations. That slim chance will only exist if there is a real threat to the organizations, and they see their only options as reform or irrelevance - because irrelevance will be followed by defunding, and the cushy, tax-free jobs will vanish.

I don't see how this gets spun as anything but what it is, which is a retreat on a number of fronts. No matter what command structure handkerchief we put on this, it looks like a retreat at a time when we can ill afford them. I notice a distinct lack of crowing on this issue on the pro-Bush side of blogosphere; it's enough to make you wonder if their position is pro-a successful prosecution of this wider war, or just pro-Bush.

I've argued in the past that we needed a more international face on our efforts, but that the U.N. was the wrong place to get them. I'll beep my horn for a moment and suggest that if we'd done that, we wouldn't be here today, and that it certainly isn't too late to do it even today.

UPDATES:

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