Posted on 19-11-2003

Iraq - U.S. Agrees To International Control
By Leonard Doyle and Stephen Castle, Independent UK, 17 November 2003

The United States accepts that to avoid humiliating failure in Iraq
it needs to bring its forces quickly under international control and
speed the handover of power, Javier Solana, the European Union
foreign policy chief, has said. Decisions along these lines will be
made in the "coming days", Mr Solana told The Independent.

The comments, signalling a major policy shift by the US, precede
President George Bush's state visit this week to London, during which
he and Tony Blair will discuss an exit strategy for forces in Iraq.

Mr Solana underlined the change of mood in Washington, saying:
"Everybody has moved, including the United States, because the United
States has a real problem and when you have a real problem you need
help." There is a "growing consensus" that the transfer of power has
to be accelerated, he said. "How fast can it be done? I would say the
faster the better."

He added: "The forces will have to be there under aa different
chapeau. The more the international community is incorporated under
the international organisations [the better]. That is the lesson I
think everyone is learning. Our American friends are learning that.
We will see in the coming days decisions along these lines."

The Bush administration spelt out over the weekend its new plans for
the faster transfer of power from Americans to the Iraqis, with a
transitional government now scheduled to take over from the end of
June. Before, US officials had said that Iraqi leaders should write a
constitution first, then hold elections.

As the EU's foreign policy representative, Mr Solana has been playing
a significant, behind-the-scenes role. Until now, the US had resisted
putting the allied forces under international auspices, although
there is growing support in Washington for a Nato role.

Colin Powell, the US Secretary of State, arrives in Brussels tonight
for talks with EU ministers, which he will combine with a meeting
with the retiring Nato secretary general, Lord Robertson of Port
Ellen. Diplomats say that Mr Powell is expected to "test the water"
about the involvement of the transatlantic alliance in Iraq. The
litany of setbacks, growing US casualties and the recent killing of
18 Italian servicemen has brought intense domestic and international
pressure on the Bush administration to give the occupying force more
legitimacy.

Eager to counter this domestic unease, the American military sought
to advertise their latest crack-down. They declared that they had
fired a satellite-guided missile at what they said was an insurgents'
training camp west of Kirkuk.

But there was more grim news on Saturday with the collision of two
Black Hawk helicopters after one was hit by a rocket-propelled
grenade. Seventeen American soldiers died, the worst single loss of
life in one incident since President Bush ordered the US-led
invasion.

He insisted yesterday that the US would not "cut and run". In an
interview with Breakfast with Frost on BBC1, the President said the
United States would not spend "years and years" in Iraq. But he
rejected as "not a fair comment" claims that the US was unprepared
for winning peace. Mounting violence in Iraq was "nothing more than a
power grab". He added: "There are some foreign fighters, mujahedin
types or al-Qa'ida, or al-Qa'ida affiliates involved, as well."

America's chief post-war administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, also
suggested that US-led forces would remain on a different basis. "Our
presence here will change from an occupation to an invited presence,"
he said. "I'm sure the Iraqi government is going to want to have
coalition forces here for its own security for some time.

There have been no specifics yet about how the international
community would control the mainly American and British forces in
Iraq. Nato remains the only strong possibility because it would
provide international credibility while leaving control with a
military organisation which Washington dominates.

Nato has already proved its willingness to act outside its
traditional sphere of operations by taking a role in Afghanistan. But
to allow it to deploy in Iraq would mean getting the approval of all
19 Nato allies including France, Germany and Belgium, all staunch
opponents of the war.

They would need to be satisfiedthat the UN had been given a
sufficient role in the political control of Iraq. Diplomats say that
the US and Britain will need to be certain that no one will block an
Iraq mission before they make a request.

With the US-led occupation likely to be declared over the next year,
Mr Bremer said that work would start on a constitutional settlement.
"We'll have a bill of rights. We'll recognise equality for all
citizens. We'll recognise an independent judiciary. We'll talk about
a federal government," he said.

Mr Bremer explained that the Americans would work with the Iraqi
Governing Council in writing the interim constitution. There would
also be a side agreement dealing with security and the presence of
American and coalition forces in Iraq, he said.

Al-Qa'ida claimed responsibility for the bombings of two Istanbul
synagogues which killed at least 23 people and vowed further attacks,
the London-based Arab newspaper al-Quds al-Arabi said yesterday.