'Old Europe' insists international force for Iraq must win UN blessing

By CATHERINE FIELD Herald correspondent

PARIS - France and Germany, the "Old Europe" derided by United States Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, are taking a polite but firm line as they see the US sink into the Iraqi quagmire.

Meetings in the European Union and the United Nations Security Council this week should see these countries spell out their belief that an international force for Iraq, as well as the unblocking of cash to fund Iraqi reconstruction, depend on getting a blessing from the UN.

In diplomatic parlance, it is the equivalent of eating humble pie. If President George W. Bush wants to ease the burden of the Iraqi war, he will have to seek backing from the multilateral organisation he brutally snubbed four months ago. If he finds the pie too unpalatable, he and British Prime Minister Tony Blair will have to go it alone, a path viewed fearfully in Europe.

The cost for the US is mounting each day. Its 150,000 troops, untrained for guerrilla war and police duties, struggle with daily hit-and-run attacks, chronic lawlessness, a resentful population and a wrecked economy.

There is not a sniff of weapons of mass destruction, the supposed cause for the war, nor even a sight of the tyrant Saddam Hussein, whose capture could at least vindicate the operation.

The occupation is costing nearly US$1 billion ($1.75 billion) a week and the toll of US troops killed in action has climbed to 151 since the March 20 start of war. Bush declared war over on May 1.

Last week an independent advisers' panel to the Pentagon warned that the US had a small, fast-closing window of opportunity, of just three months, to restore security and basic services.

But France and Germany have told Bush that without a UN mandate, they will not contribute.

India and Russia say they will not send troops without a mandate and US friends with large militaries, such as Pakistan and Turkey, are uncomfortable, dragging their feet about making any decision.

Another option could be a Nato-led force similar to the one the alliance is sending to Afghanistan to take over command and co-ordination of the International Security Assistance Force next month.

But Nato Secretary-General George Robertson said last week that, given current commitments, he could not, for now, envisage the alliance doing more than help a Polish battalion with logistics, intelligence, and communications.

France and Germany could be expected to field about 10,000 men between them, and each has modern helicopters, tanks and US-compatible communications. The only significant other contributor would be Italy, whose Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, a friend of Bush, has promised 3000 troops.

The others are tiny contingents of a few dozen or hundred men from small US allies in eastern Europe and the Baltic. Their lack of transport and firepower, and Soviet-era communications, may make them more of a hindrance on the ground than a help.

But a meeting of the UN Security Council tomorrow may show that Bush and "Old Europe" are inching towards an arrangement. It will be the first public session to take stock of the situation since war broke out, and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan is expected to open with a dire warning to the US and Britain about the worsening situation.

Herald Feature: Iraq