PARIS, 29 August 2003 — France yesterday called for a “real international force” in Iraq after the United States opened the door to possibly handing some peacekeeping responsibilities over to the United Nations after sustaining high human and financial costs from its military occupation.
“Whatever measures are taken cannot simply be an increase or an adjustment of the current occupation forces,” Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin told a gathering of French ambassadors in Paris. “It involves putting in place a real international force under a mandate from the UN Security Council,” he said.
His comments, a reiteration of France’s position on Iraq, came after US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage this week said the United States might be willing to accept UN leadership of an international force in Iraq if a US general remained in command. Although Armitage told regional US news syndicates on Tuesday that the proposal was one of several being considered, the hint that Washington might offer some concessions was welcomed by Paris.
Germany, France, India, Russia and other major potential contributors of peacekeepers to Iraq have up to now refused a US plea to send troops to bolster in the US occupation, saying they would only look at such a request if it were made under the UN flag. De Villepin said: “It is not enough to simply deploy more troops, more technical and financial means” and insisted that “it is time to move forward resolutely in a perspective of sovereignty for Iraq.”
To that end, elections should be held before the end of the year and a provisional government “whose legitimacy is reinforced by the United Nations” should be established, he said, in an apparent swipe at the US-appointed Iraqi governing council that has so far gone largely unrecognized by other Arab countries.
A new UN resolution should enshrine “a true change of approach” to Iraq, de Villepin said. That would encourage all the international community to help with “effective security and reconstruction,” he added.
The United States has found trying to control Iraq an expensive proposition. Daily attacks on its troops have brought to at least 64 the number of combat deaths since US President George W. Bush announced the end of major combat operations on May 1. At the same time, the cost of reconstructing Iraq has remained unclear but is certain to run into hundreds of billions of dollars.
The military occupation alone is costing the Pentagon an estimated $4 billion a month.
Meanwhile, Lt.-Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, commander of US forces in Iraq, said yesterday he saw no need for the stationing of additional US troops in Iraq. Speaking from Baghdad, Sanchez said the solution to Iraq’s current security problems would be achieved via increased intelligence and improved relations with the Iraqi population.
