The UN to the rescue--should we be surprised?(Insider Report)

In our August 11th issue, THE NEW AMERICAN reiterated a prediction made in our June 30th issue regarding future developments in Iraq. At the risk of making ourselves tiresome on this subject, we are restating this prediction here. Our occupation of Iraq, we wrote, will result in "a steady and worsening hemorrhage of national power, wealth, and prestige.... Ultimately, those costs will prove too much for our nation to bear alone. In such fashion does swaggering imperialism set the stage for compelled interdependence.... It's reasonable to imagine a not-too-distant time when American servicemen and their families, weary of the burden of empire, would eagerly embrace transferring that burden to the UN."

The September 3rd Washington Post reported: "In an effort to win broader international support for U.S. policies in Iraq, President Bush decided yesterday to seek UN Security Council approval of a resolution granting the world body greater control over multinational peacekeeping forces and a role in forming a new Iraqi government.... [The decision] reflects a recognition within the administration that a stronger UN mandate is essential to winning greater foreign military and economic help in stabilizing Iraq."

The administration's preferred formula, outlined in late August by Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage, would create a "multinational force that would be under the United Nations flag" but serve under an American UN commander, observed the September 3rd New York Times. France's ...