Old news...
from The Buffalo In Da' Midst <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
hide details Aug 3 (5 days ago)
to The A-List <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
date Aug 3, 2007 2:56 PM
subject Approval of boosted U.N. role in Iraq looks likely, Iraq
looks to be un-consulted
The pillage & plunder of Iraqi culture continues.
The only Iraqi name mentioned:
Zalmay Khalilzad, US Ambassador to Iraq
I wonder if the Iraqis have been consulted at all?
aawsat.com
Approval of boosted U.N. role in Iraq looks likely
Friday 03 August 2007
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Russia signaled its assent on Thursday to a
U.S.-British draft resolution that would expand the political role of
the United Nations in Iraq, making its approval by the Security
Council almost certain.
"I think it's overall a good draft. Some work, of course, may be
required, but I don't see any basic problems," Russian Ambassador
Vitaly Churkin told reporters.
The draft circulated to the Security Council's 15 member states on
Wednesday called for a major upgrade to the scope of the U.N.
Assistance Mission for Iraq, or UNAMI, which Western countries hope
can help smooth over sectarian differences.
UNAMI's current mandate expires on August 10. Diplomats from several
countries expected the new resolution, extending the mandate for
another year, to be voted through next week.
Since it was set up four years ago, UNAMI has focused mainly on
helping with elections and monitoring human rights. U.N. staff were
withdrawn from Iraq after their Baghdad office was blown up, killing
22 people, five months after the March 2003 U.S.-led invasion, but
some later returned.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Zalmay Khalilzad, formerly envoy
to Iraq, wants the world body more involved in reconciliation between
Iraq's feuding factions. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also favors a
bigger U.N. role.
The draft says UNAMI should in the future "advise, support and assist"
Iraqis on "advancing an inclusive, national dialogue and political
reconciliation," reviewing the constitution, delineating internal
boundaries and staging a census.
As Washington and London urge Iraq to take more responsibility to
allow U.S. and British troops eventually to leave, it also says UNAMI
should promote dialogue between Iraq and its neighbors on border
security, energy and refugees.
The mission should assist in the return of millions of refugees who
have fled the violence, coordinate reconstruction programs and aid,
and help promote economic reform, it says.
"In order to reduce the sources of violence, we believe that the
United Nations can help Iraqis come to a national compact, come to an
agreement on these big issues on which there are differences,"
Khalilzad told reporters on Thursday.
He said that included provincial boundaries such as those around the
disputed oil-rich northern city of Kirkuk. Kurds want Kirkuk included
in their autonomous region as its capital, but other ethnic groups
object.
U.S. mission spokesman Benjamin Chang said experts would discuss the
draft on Friday. "I think there'll be some editing to be done, but so
far we've had positive responses," he said.
The invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein ended the domination of Iraq
by its Sunni minority, empowering the long downtrodden Shi'ite
majority and the Kurds. Iraqi factions have struggled since then to
govern the country together while violence by militant groups has
killed tens of thousands.
U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq said the organization was being consulted
over the resolution, but added, "We remain mindful of the security
situation and the constraints that are presented" by it.
The head of the former U.N. mission in Baghdad, Brazilian Sergio
Vieira de Mello, was among those killed in the 2003 blast, and the new
draft acknowledges the security problem.
In a June report, Ban said current U.N. staff quartered in Baghdad's
Green Zone government and diplomatic compound needed a new, more solid
building to withstand possible attacks.
Western diplomats say it will be up to the United Nations to decide if
it needs to increase the approximately 300 staff UNAMI has, should the
resolution pass.
http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=9774
On 8/8/07, Jim Devine <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> from today's SLATE: >The [Washington POST] fronts word that, after
> much prodding from the White House, the United Nations said it is
> willing to increase the number of personnel stationed in Iraq. Britain
> and the United States want the Security Council to vote this week on a
> resolution to increase the United Nations' presence and influence in
> Iraq. The NY [TIMES] says the resolution is expected to pass, but some
> fear the international body will be left to deal with Iraq's problems
> by itself. The Post notes the Bush administration's pleas for
> assistance from the United Nations "contrast with the disdain it held
> for the organization in past years."<
>
> Maybe Bushie will give Iraq to the French as an Xmas present? Now
> that's a punishment!
> --
> Jim Devine / "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own
> way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante.
>
