An AP News Analysis
By SONYA ROSS, Associated Press Writer After largely ignoring advice from Europeans,
the United Nations and members of Congress, President Bush and his
inner circle now must sift through some of those very suggestions
in search of a way to kick-start the transfer of power in Iraq
before the country spins out of control.
Bush and his top aides, along with the U.S. administrator in
Baghdad, spent much of the day Wednesday in an urgent, impromptu
review of the postwar setup in Iraq. It is a crisis of the
administration's own making, critics say, brought on by
indifference to expertise that comes from outside its own insular
circle, or that runs counter to its agenda.
"We have to become, for a moment, a country that is consulting
and listening, not doing," said Ray Shonholtz, director of
Partners for Democratic Change, an international group that helps
build civil institutions in transitional societies. "The more we
control how this (Iraqi) democracy is going to move, how it's going
to be shaped, who is going to sit in seats of decision-making -- the
less likely we will see a robust democracy."
Some U.S. lawmakers complained Wednesday that they have been
barely consulted about Bush's plans for putting Iraqis in charge,
and don't like being left in the dark. Newly minted Eastern
European allies lodged the same complaint as they cried foul over
their business interests getting sidelined on lucrative
reconstruction work in favor of U.S. companies.
The demands of France, Germany and Russia for a quick U.S.
handoff to the Iraqis went unheeded -- until it became a condition
for a second U.N. resolution that Bush needed to lend credibility
to the Iraqi occupation. This week, the French took great delight
in the cover article on a U.S. political journal that proclaimed,
"The French Were Right."
"It is a policy in need of a major overhaul, and they don't
listen to the people who've talked to them," said Sen. Joseph
Biden, D-Del., a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Some experts say the best way for Bush to fix the problem is to
focus on key pieces of early advice: Placate allies' concerns.
Respect the choices made by the Iraqi people. Turn control over to
the United Nations.
White House aides were circumspect about what old advice Bush
might explore. "I'm not going to get into speculation about the
options," spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters.
One idea under consideration is to follow the Afghanistan model,
and name an interim leader who would have the authority to govern
Iraq until a constitution is written and elections are held.
But even that suggestion is fraught with risk, said Johan van
der Vyver, a professor at Emory Law School in Atlanta who served as
a liaison to the African National Congress as South Africa was
developing its post-apartheid constitution.
"There is still too much violence in the country for people to
sit down and write a constitution. So it looks to me very much like
a no-win situation," van der Vyver said. "I cannot even
contemplate the possibility of President Bush withdrawing, or
ceding controlling power to a non-American agent. If he were now to
hand over control to the United Nations as he ought to do, he will
lose face. That would demonstrate that he was wrong all along."
At the United Nations, Secretary-General Kofi Annan advocated a
speedy handoff by the United States, according to a clear timeline.
"We have to take it a step at a time, and we think the early
transfer of power would be helpful to everyone," U.N. spokesman
Fred Eckhard said Wednesday.
L. Paul Bremer, the U.S. administrator in Baghdad, said he has
given the Iraqi Governing Council some proposals on how it can take
on more authority. Now, he said, they are bumping up against a Dec.
15 deadline for providing a timetable on when this transfer will
happen, and "the stakes are very high."
Shibley Telhami, a Mideast expert at the University of Maryland,
said it may be too late for the Bush administration to adjust its
policies according to the advice of others.
"There is only one chance to make a first impression, and that
chance has been lost," Telhami said. "It is now an uphill
battle."
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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