Strategy for Iraq sovereignty

Both the draft UN Security Council resolution put forth by the US and Britain and Bush's speech outlined a comprehensive strategy to "help Iraq achieve democracy and freedom" after the transfer of sovereignty on June 30.

Diplomatic reaction to the UN proposal was mostly favorable reports The Age, of Melbourne, Australia:

The United Nations appears ready to support President George Bush's plan to hand power in Iraq to a caretaker government on June 30, and to keep a multinational force there for at least another 12 months. ... Chile's ambassador,[to the UN] Herald Munoz, said: 'I think we will have a consensus.' Gunter Pleuger of Germany said: 'Our first impression is that it's a good basis for discussion.'

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Dutch Foreign Minister Ben Bot backed the draft resolution on Iraq, reports Netherlands based Expatica , an Internet news source.

Bot said all the important points have been included in the document and the Netherlands will be satisfied if the draft resolution becomes the final text. He also said it was a good base for continued discussions.

The foreign ministers of France and Germany, whose countries both strongly opposed the US-led war in Iraq, held a positive meeting with British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw in Brussels on Monday, reports Deutsche Welle. Straw told journalists:

We have entered into the discussion with partners in the hope that we will be able to reach agreement pretty soon.

France and Germany expressed the "need for a more definite timeframe for the withdrawal of the occupying troops or clearer language allowing the Iraqis more say in ordering their departure," reports Deutsche Welle.

The sticking point for the French is how complete the transfer of power from the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority to an Iraqi interim government will be. French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier said sovereignty would be in doubt if the interim government did not have the backing of the Iraqi people, reports Deutsche Welle.

'I think the transfer of power to the new Iraqi government from July 1 should be a complete, sincere and clear transfer, even if there is naturally, for a certain time, a sharing of responsibilities on security until the January elections,' Barnier told journalists.

Similar sentiments "were echoed by a source at the Russian Foreign Ministry," reports the Times of London. A source from the Interfax news agency said: "The document leaves Russia and other members of the Security Council asking many questions and needs further work."

Addressing these concerns in a London press conference today, Prime Minister Tony Blair said "as of June 30 the new Iraqi government will have veto power over some military operations by coalition troops in Iraq. " reports the Washington Post.

Blair was explicit and specific on the nature of the authority the Iraqi government will exercise at the press conference:

If there's a political decision as to whether you go into a place like Fallujah in a particular way, that has to be done with the consent of the Iraqi government and the final political control remains with the Iraqi government. That's what the transfer of sovereignty means.... That doesn't mean to say that our troops are going to be ordered to do something that our troops don't want to do.... The political control shifts, the operational issues have to be decided under various agreements . . . it may be decided on an operation-to-operation basis.'

Blair was "emphatic" reports the Washington Post, that "the change of sovereignty is a change of sovereignty. That is my position and the position of the US government."

In his speech Monday night ( full text)President Bush announced five steps to achieve freedom and democracy in Iraq:

• Hand over authority to a sovereign Iraqi government;
• Help establish the stability and security in Iraq that democracy requires;
• Continue rebuilding Iraq's infrastructure;
• Encourage more international support;
• Move toward free, national elections that will bring forward new leaders empowered by the Iraqi people.

Initial reactions fell on predictably partisan lines, reported The Christian Science Monitor.

In his daily blog, conservative columnist Andrew Sullivan gave the speech a B+ saying "it was not bad" and that Bush "did much of what he needed to do" in laying out an overall strategy.

This was a critical point. Prior to the speech Sen. Evan Bayh, (D) Indiana, said Bush needs to spell out a "comprehensive strategy" - because that's what American people feel has been lacking.

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said Bush outlined a reasonable approach without filling in the details reports the Miami Herald.

We are going to turn something over to somebody, but we're not clear yet what is what,'' she told CNN. ``I'm glad that he has in fact now realized the importance of the UN The question is whether the president now has the credibility to bring about the kind of international cooperation that he's calling for.

Reaction on the Arab world's main sources of television news, reports the BBC, is that Bush's "words seem unlikely to get more than a lukewarm response." Typical is that of Al Jazeera which:

Led its bulletins with the speech until news of the latest violence in Iraq relegated Mr Bush to lower down the running order. Its conclusion was that his words had little new to offer.

Meanwhile, conflict on the ground continues reports the Guardian.

One of the most sacred [Shiite] sites in Iraq was today damaged in clashes between US forces and fighters loyal to the radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr...The inner gate of the shrine, leading into the tomb of Imam Ali Ibn Abu Talib, appeared to have been hit by a missile. Witnesses said the shrine had been hit by rockets or mortars, although it was not clear which side had fired them.

Ramifications of this latest incident reports the Guardian are a likely "increase anti-US feeling among Iraq's [Shiite] majority," coming as it does "a few weeks after the vast gilded dome of the shrine was damaged during fighting."

Also...
• Bush pitches handover plan to UN ( The Christian Science Monitor)
• Don't give Iraqis self-rule all at once ( Chicago-Sun Times)
• Bush's reality gap ( The Boston Globe)

• Feedback appreciated. E-mail Jim Bencivenga