-Caveat Lector- http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16138-2003Apr2.html washingtonpost.com
After the War Thursday, April 3, 2003; Page A22 THE WEEKEND before the war started, President Bush signed on to a statement with British Prime Minister Tony Blair pledging to "work in close partnership with international institutions, including the United Nations," in postwar Iraq and to seek a Security Council resolution to "endorse an appropriate post- conflict administration." Yet a secretive Pentagon-led group is already far advanced in plans to unilaterally install a postwar regime dominated by Americans and Iraqi exiles -- one that would effectively exclude not only the United Nations but also European and Middle Eastern allies whose support will be essential to stabilizing the country. Even the State Department's nominees would be shut out by Defense Department leaders who talk of leaping from military rule to an interim Iraqi government in 90 days with the help of the American officials who would run Iraqi ministries. This narrow approach could compound the diplomatic damage of the war and expose the United States and its soldiers to large and unnecessary risks. Few dispute that a U.S. military administration will be needed immediately after the conflict, and administration officials are right that Iraq should be turned over to Iraqis as quickly as possible. The problem with the Pentagon's emerging approach is that it would structure this supposedly limited military regime in such a way as to concentrate control over the subsequent political transition in U.S. hands, effectively limiting international participation to providing a nominal blessing or working in a subordinate technical capacity. It would make virtually inevitable an Iraqi transitional government dominated by the small group of exiles long favored by the Pentagon. Some administration officials appear to believe they can impose this scheme over the protests of allies but still count on U.N. humanitarian assistance and peacekeeping contributions that would allow an early withdrawal of most U.S. troops. The Security Council's failure to follow through on its own resolutions on Iraq and the irresponsible obstructionism of allies such as France might seem to justify that course. Yet Mr. Bush rightly pledged to seek the repair of alliances and of the United Nations after the war, and the Pentagon's plan would surely deepen the rifts. Even a parting with Britain could not be ruled out; Mr. Blair has made U.N. involvement in postwar Iraq the centerpiece of his own political strategy. An isolated United States might find little help in feeding or policing Iraq's 23 million people, while being condemned across the Middle East as an occupying power. The Pentagon's Iraqi friends could quickly come to be regarded as quislings and puppets. U.S. forces could find themselves the targets of resistance and terrorism, while any hope of postwar progress on an Israeli-Palestinian settlement could disappear. A better model is readily available. Mr. Blair is proposing that the United Nations convene a conference to decide on the formation of a transitional government -- like the one that led to an Afghan administration after the ouster of the Taliban. The United States inevitably would have a major influence in shaping that administration, just as it did the Afghan regime, but the U.N. umbrella would give the process far greater legitimacy. It would also open the way for international participation in reconstruction and peacekeeping, as in Afghanistan, and allow for U.N. as well as American technical help in rebuilding institutions. It could provide a platform for repairing U.S. relationships with countries such as Germany; even France, which has threatened to obstruct Security Council agreement on a postwar administration, has signaled its willingness to work with the British formula. Mr. Bush said, on that prewar weekend, that he understands "incredible international cooperation" is needed to manage the threats of the 21st century. Postwar Iraq may determine whether the United States regains that cooperation -- or embarks on a dangerous unilateral course. © 2003 The Washington Post Company ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ >>>I'll point out here that "values" and "ideals" are not the same thing. "Values" tend to be reflected on a scale of moral equivalence, whereas "ideals" remain as thing to which one aspires. Maybe Ashcroft has this thing about being boiled in oil, something HE considers valuable. A<:>E<:>R <<< http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16079-2003Apr2.html washingtonpost.com Israel True to Values, Ashcroft Says Thursday, April 3, 2003; Page A08 Attorney General John D. Ashcroft yesterday told a conference of evangelical Christians and Jews who are united in support of Israel that in the face of almost daily terrorist threats, Israel has remained "steadfastly true" to "the values our two nations share." Ashcroft spoke in the afternoon to about 600 members of Stand for Israel, a fledgling group founded by Republican activist Ralph Reed and Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, head of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. The organization presented its first "Friend of Israel" awards last night to House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) and Rep. Tom Lantos (D-Calif.) for their sponsorship of a House resolution backing Israel last year. Eckstein said Stand for Israel is intended to bring grass-roots support of Israel to bear on U.S. foreign policy, calling it a Christian version of AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. He also said the group is bipartisan, although prominent Republicans appeared to greatly outnumber Democrats at yesterday's events. "When we experienced the horror of September 11th . . . Israel was among those countries most capable of understanding our national pain and our national thirst for justice," Ashcroft told the gathering at the Mayflower Hotel. In accepting his award, DeLay lambasted a State Department human rights report that criticized Israel's treatment of Palestinians. The report "compares the human rights record of a free, tolerant and pluralistic nation with that of a terrorist network. There is no comparison, and to assert one is ridiculous," he said. -- Alan Cooperman © 2003 The Washington Post Company Forwarded for your information. 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