The Last, Best Hope

The only real chance for a peaceful future for Iraq lies in a government made up of representatives of all the critical factions, working together to resolve problems fairly and peacefully. The only way to get leaders with the skills to accomplish that supremely difficult task is to train them. The best training is the very process of writing the constitution that the Bush administration now rejects as too time-consuming.

Iraqis are growing weary of American occupation and the White House argues that they will not tolerate the current situation long enough for a constitution to be prepared. That is the precise reason that the job should be turned over to the United Nations. The United Nations has far more international experience, credibility and reputation for neutrality in these matters than the United States does. There is certainly no guarantee it can succeed. There is only the certainty that the Bush administration, which has made all the wrong bets so far, does not have any better options.

I cannot take anyone seriously who proposes the United Nations as any sort of solution in a military situation. I'm sorry, but there is not a single fact in evidence, or historical precedent, for them being able to do this.

Besides that, the U.N. is largely corrupt, in the service of anti-Western forces. It should not go unnoticed that until recently, Saddam's government was a member in good standing of this august organization. Cuba presently holds a seat on their Human Rights Commission.

I am still puzzled as to this astonishing faith that liberals have in this institution. I figure it's rooted in the worship of the collective, or the idea that if you do it in a mob, you can't go wrong, but that's just a guess.

BTW, has anyone noticed that the "cut and run" stories are largely based on third party statements, and not on anything that the Bush administration has actually said themselves?