On March 17 it seemed that diplomacy had come to an end. The United States did not get the resolution through the Security Council that would have authorized force against Iraq, George W. Bush gave Saddam Hussein 48 hours to leave Iraq and people began to question the legitimacy of the United Nations.
However, according to Dr. Jean-Robert Leguey-Feilleux, professor of political science at Saint Louis University and a specialist in Mideast affairs, the situation is not as grim as once thought.
“The United States was isolated by going to war without a U.N. endorsement,” Leguey-Feilleux said.
However, he finds Colin Powell speaking with other nations and the reconstruction of Iraq as steps to mend the ties that were thought to be damaged.
“If Powell is successful in diplomacy,” Leguey-Feilleux said. “it allows him to build a larger coalition to rebuild Iraq.”
Leguey-Feilleux says that the building of such a coalition would show the United States’ commitment to work with other nations. His belief is that a new Iraq must be built with input from the Arab League, the major forum of political dialogue within the Middle East, and other nations, such as China, Russia and Germany.
“The United States needs to prove it is looking to work with [other nations],” Leguey-Feilleux said. “And other nations have an interest in dealing with the U.S.”
The cooperation from other nations and the U.N. would also ease the high cost of rebuilding the nation. Using materials and labor from other nations would take more pressure off an already receding U.S. economy and may reduce the fiscal cost of war.
According to Leguey-Feilleux, the United Nations is not dead. It is still a forum for diplomacy.
“We now see how important having support from the U.N. is,” Leguey-Feilleux said, citing the international outcry when the U.S. acted with its coalition and how hard the Bush Administration pushed for a resolution, as a sign of the United Nations’ significance.
However, Leguey-Feilleux believes that a much longer and drawn-out war may be a detriment to U.S. interests.
Images of dead civilians and soldiers could justify the Security Council and demonstrators’ concerns that the continuation of diplomacy could have meant fewer and unnecessary casualties.
This would lead the perception that the United States is a hostile actor on the international stage. Acting alone could damage other operations such as the war on terror or a diplomatic entanglement with North Korea.
The United Nations has made known its willingness to assist in the rebuilding of Iraq.
Shortly after the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom, France and Germany spearheaded a plan that would make the U.N. an active player in humanitarian assistance and nation building.
French leader Jacques Chirac has also made an announcement that French forces would become involved in the effort to remove Saddam, if his armed forces used chemical or biological weapons it had previously claimed not to have.
