WP: U.S. Cool to New U.N. Vote – Unfettered Role in Iraq Preferred

[kskiska]

Despite increasing pressure to "internationalize" the postwar reconstruction of Iraq, the Bush administration is not actively pursuing a new U.N. Security Council resolution authorizing broader international participation out of concern that greater U.N. involvement could reduce U.S. control.

Five months after the U.N. Security Council refused to endorse the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, the Bush administration and key U.N. members remain at odds over a formula that would relieve the military and financial burdens the United States is bearing almost alone.

Publicly, senior administration officials say that Secretary of State Colin L. Powell is "exploring" the possibility of a second U.N. resolution to replace or amend Resolution 1483, passed in late May, which effectively granted the United States control over Iraq's economy and its political process until an internationally recognized government takes power in Baghdad.

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But when pressed on the issue, administration officials acknowledge that they have concerns about any resolution that would diminish the authority enjoyed by L. Paul Bremer, the chief civilian reconstruction official, and U.S. military commanders to manage the postwar situation in Iraq.

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Britain, Germany and Russia enthusiastically embraced Powell's talk of a second U.N. resolution. But in private they acknowledged that any deal leading to a significant increase in troop contributors would require a number of Bush administration concessions. The administration, they said, would have to open the Iraqi reconstruction market to international competition, set a timetable for the transfer of sovereignty to Iraqis, and cede significant authority to the United Nations.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13521-2003Aug1.html