As expected:
France, Germany Criticize Iraq Resolution
DRESDEN, Germany – France and Germany refused Thursday to support a U.S. draft resolution that would spread the burden of running postwar Iraq (news – web sites), but said they believed a compromise was possible.
French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder demanded that Washington give the United Nations (news – web sites) more influence in Iraq’s political future. Their stance threatened to reopen a barely healed trans-Atlantic rift over their ardent opposition to the Iraq war.
Under the draft resolution circulated Wednesday at the United Nations, Washington seeks money and troops from other countries but would not cede political or military control in Iraq.
Chirac seemed particularly critical of the U.S. initiative and was adamant that the draft foresee the United States’ giving up control of the political process in Iraq. France is one of five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, meaning it has veto power over council actions.
Not unexpectedly, France and Germany rip into the resolution. It’s good they’re standing up for what’s best for Iraq, i.e. the UN in control of Iraq. The U.S. has shown it’s self incapable of leading Iraq. It’s time for the U.S. to step back and work with the UN. This resolution doesn’t appear to do that.
The resolution itself, or what we know of it, seemingly undermines the idea that this war was a humanitarian intervention, the last claim that can still be argued as a reason for war. The U.S. is much more concerned with having a gov’t of their choice in place, and making sure Halliburton et al are continuing to make money for Bush and Cheney, than with getting the Iraqi gov’t off the ground.
