Editorial for Thursday — November 20, 2003

• A different chapeau

A different chapeau

Even as the weekend brought more tragic news from Iraq, Monday brought faint rays of hope that the Bush administration may be willing to seek international assistance in both the military and political crises there.

The British newspaper The Independent quoted Javier Solana, the European Union’s foreign minister, as saying U.S. officials this week will begin testing the waters about the possible involvement of North Atlantic Treaty Organization troops in Iraq. He said he expected Secretary of State Colin Powell to raise the subject with EU ministers at meetings in Brussels this week.

Mr. Solana, a Spaniard who, as NATO’s secretary general, supervised its involvement in war-torn Kosovo, said that if NATO troops go to Iraq, “The forces will have to be there under a different chapeau (hat). The more the international community is incorporated under the international organizations (the better). That is the lesson everyone is learning. Our American friends are learning that. We will see in the coming days decisions along these lines.”

Also on Monday, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said the world body was preparing for a new role in turning over power to a provisional Iraqi government. Last week, President George W. Bush announced he would speed up the U.S. timetable for transition. Over the weekend, administration officials said they wanted the new governing council in place by July 1.

To judge by Mr. Solana’s remarks, Mr. Bush is prepared to continue his about-face on U.S. policy by asking for NATO troops. If the Kosovo precedent is followed, the U.S. troops would serve alongside NATO troops under NATO command, though that commander would likely be an American. In Kosovo, NATO troops were commanded by Army Gen. Wesley Clark, ironically now one of the Democratic contenders to oppose Mr. Bush in next fall’s election.

With NATO troops enforcing security, the United Nations could then help in the political transition. Mr. Powell said Monday that the United States wants the United Nations to “play a role” in the transition and would be open to a new Security Council resolution setting forth that role.

Mr. Annan has argued that the proper role for the United Nations is in organizing a broad-based transition government, “but that the security condition must be appropriate.” Most U.N. personnel were withdrawn from Iraq after the Aug. 19 bombing that killed 22 U.N. workers, including Sergio Vieria del Mello, the head of the mission.

A new U.N. resolution, as well as any decision by NATO’s 19 member countries to commit troops, would revolve around economic considerations. Mr. Bush has adamantly opposed sharing control over U.S. contracts and dollars. But dropping that opposition may be the price of getting more help from the international community.

There is no guarantee that an internationalist solution will work. Even if NATO nations are willing to commit their forces, the Baathist insurgents and terrorists could well see them as pawns of the United States. And while NATO owes the United States for 40 years of protection during the Cold War, the inherent dangers of occupation may make payback problematic. As to the political solution, any provisional government, whether installed by the United States or the United Nations, is likely to face questions of legitimacy from the diverse and contentious religious and ethnic factions in Iraq. Whoever is in charge, the process is likely to be slow and painful.

But going it alone hasn’t worked. Mr. Bush may be late coming to that realization, and his motives may have more to do with domestic politics than aspirations to be a world statesman. But his change of heart is welcome, whatever the reasons. These new efforts may offer faint hope, but they’re the best hope, not only for Iraq, but for the United States, the Middle East and the world at large.

St. Louis Post- Dispatch