Military

DATE=9/4/03

TYPE=U-S OPINION ROUNDUP

NAME=AN EXPANDING U-S ROLE IN IRAQ

NUMBER=6-13075

BY LINE=ANDREW GUTHRIE

DATELINE=Washington

EDITOR=Assignments

TELEPHONE=619-3335

CONTENT=

INTRO: The American press is responding favorably to a major change in U-S policy, requesting an expanded peacekeeping role for the United Nations in Iraq. We get a sampling of editorial reaction to this change in policy now from V-O-A's ____________in today's U-S Opinion Roundup.

TEXT: There has been a debate in the U-S press about whether American military forces are overextended in Iraq. The terrorist bombings, most recently at the major Najaf mosque, suggest security was not improving. Now the Bush administration has decided to ask for more U-N help, both in the peacekeeping and other aspects of rebuilding.

The New York Times is one of many papers pleased that, as it puts it, "the Bush administration has stepped back from its stubborn resistance to great U-N involvement."

VOICE: It is unclear how much authority Washington is willing to give the U-N, but the new resolution offers an approach all [Security] Council members should support. The administration's sudden embrace of a broader U-N role should not be limited to security issues. To make a difference, the U-N will have to be given broader political authority.

TEXT: As far as the [Florida] Orlando Sentinel is concerned:

VOICE: The case for greater United Nations involvement gets stronger by the day. This week's bombing at a Baghdad police station and last week's at a Najaf mosque are just the latest deadly evidence that the [U-S] doesn't have enough troops in Iraq to provide security. And without security, the United States will never succeed in building a stable and democratic country.

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The United States has worked well with the [U-N] on postwar operations in Bosnia, Kosovo and Afghanistan. Surely the Bush administration can agree on a plan with the world body to secure the U-S victory in Iraq.

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TEXT: The Sun in Baltimore agrees that timing of the aid request is being forced on the White House by circumstances.

VOICE: Iraq is at a critical juncture. Bombings continue to take a toll - in lives, morale and confidence. America's friends there are given reason to doubt America's ability to protect them. International aid organizations have pulled out. The U-S administrator admits that the occupation will cost many billions of dollars.

Anger directed at Americans is growing, and terrorists of many nations are heading toward Baghdad to wage jihad. Maybe it took this level of danger to convince President Bush that he must ask the [U-N] for help. The point now is that the situation is so bad, so perilous there is no alternative.

TEXT: As for The Washington Post, it too is pleased or relieved by the change.

VOICE: [The] decision is an important step toward overcoming the growing difficulties of an occupation the administration unwisely sought to dominate. At best, the new U-N process could give the occupation a vital boost of manpower and money - and perhaps a second wind of cooperation from Iraqis, whose toleration for the U-S regime is dangerously attenuated. But it cannot be a substitute for new Iraqi leadership or for a renewed American commitment.

TEXT: In Connecticut's capital, The Hartford Courant says it is time for the powerful nations of the world who opposed the war, to reassess.

VOICE: It is in the interest of all U-N members to bring a semblance of normalcy to Iraq and hasten the day when [Iraqis] govern themselves. In joining the peacemaking effort France, Germany, Russia China and [others] would not be acknowledging that they erred in refusing to support the U-S invasion. Rather, they would be saying it's time to turn a new leaf.

TEXT: Lastly, reservations about a wider U-N role from New York's Post.

VOICE: There may be no harm in [offering] the [U-N] a greater role in Iraqi affairs - so long as America continues to run the show. The [U-N], recall, truckled [Editors: "acquiesced"] to Saddam's dictatorship and has shown no interest in America's efforts to neutralize anti-Western hostility in the Arab world.

TEXT: With that view, we conclude this sampling of opinion on the change in U-S policy to broaden the U-N role in post-war Iraq.

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