From: Gene McAloon 

On Fri, 16 Jan 2004 18:08:23 -0500, "Mark Hessey"
 wrote:

>Exactly, and allowing a single cleric to muscle in is not in their best
>interest - if it takes working with the UN or anyone else to convey that
>message to them and to reassure them that things are going to be done as
>soon as possible, then so be it. I see nothing wrong with using mouth pieces
>from the UN to spread the word, but putting them in charge of anything would
>be a mistake.

On the contrary, it may be the only viable way. Anything brokered by the US will
be seen as something imposed by a conqueror and that or that group within
Iraq is likely to oppose it if only for that reason.

UN involvement may be the only thing that will give not only legitimacy to
the new Iraqi government, but also be seen as not favoring this or that
group or somehow being anti-Islam. That is now seen even by the Bush people
as the only way out of a mess they created and from which they don't know
how to extricate themselves given the arbitrary timetable they have imposed
on themselves.  The direction I see developing in Washington it to get out
as soon as possible while
dumping the mess in the UN's lap.

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