U.S. offers to report to U.N. on Iraq

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell yesterday started a major diplomatic effort to internationalize peacekeeping of Iraq, circulating a resolution that would have the U.S. military reporting to the United Nations.

“The U.S. will remain the commander of the unified command,” Mr. Powell told reporters at the State Department. “And there will be an element in the resolution that calls upon the United States, as the leader of the military coalition, to report on a regular basis to the United Nations.”

Mr. Powell said the effort to bring the U.N. Security Council “into the game” was unrelated to mounting U.S. casualties in Iraq. In recent weeks, the death toll has sparked calls from Democrats for greater U.N. control of Iraq.

Yesterday, Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle said he was “very pleased” that President Bush authorized Mr. Powell to seek the U.N. resolution during a White House meeting Tuesday.

“There has been, as you know, a lot of infighting within the White House with regard to whether to do this,” the South Dakota Democrat told reporters at the Capitol. “I’m very pleased that, at long last, we are.”

Other Democrats said it is proof that the administration’s approach to both the war and rebuilding Iraq is a failure, with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, calling the announcement “a welcome admission that the current policy is not realistic and not sustainable.”

In addition to calling for a greater role by the United Nations, the resolution would ask the Iraqi Governing Council to propose a timetable for gradually resuming sovereignty of the war-torn country. That would allow most of the American and multinational forces to eventually pull out.

Initial reaction to Mr. Powell’s proposal, which began circulating among Security Council members yesterday, has been mixed. Germany reportedly ruled out any military role in Iraq, while Russia signaled it would be willing to place troops under U.S. command.

While a variety of nations have expressed a willingness to become more involved in Iraq, none want to be in command of a U.N.-authorized military operation.

“I don’t know of any of my Security Council colleagues who said, ‘We want to be the military commander.’ Quite the contrary,” said Mr. Powell, who yesterday discussed the draft with Foreign Ministers Joschka Fischer of Germany, Dominique de Villepin of France and Igor Ivanov of Russia.

“Nor has anybody in the senior leadership of the U.N. said they wish to become military commander.”

However, nations have expressed desires “to know more about what’s going on” with Iraq’s reconstruction, Mr. Powell said.

At the United Nations yesterday, diplomats appeared to be waiting patiently — and sometimes skeptically — for the U.S. proposal.

Several diplomats said they would consider a resolution that shares power and responsibility in Iraq, not just the risks. Several said they hoped Washington would accept significant international input on reconstruction and economic issues.

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