A Lonely Fight

Tuesday, November 4, 2003; Page A24

TWO MONTHS after the Bush administration embarked on an effort to attract greater international support for its mission in Iraq, it faces the latest surge of violence on the ground from a position that is more isolated than ever.

No fresh foreign troops are on their way to help fight the Iraqi insurgents and foreign terrorists who have lately redoubled their attacks.

Far from expanding its mission, the United Nations has all but withdrawn from Iraq, removing its remaining international staff from Baghdad.

Other international aid groups, from the International Red Cross to Doctors Without Borders, are reducing their operations or pulling out.

Rather than look for further help from India, Pakistan or Russia, or even NATO allies, the Bush administration has abruptly embraced a new strategy -- "Iraqification," a rapid buildup of local police and paramilitary forces under U.S. tutelage. Maybe this policy will produce better results, but it's worth considering why the attempt at multilateralism has proved a failure.

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