The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Thursday to extend the world body's beleaguered Iraq mission, which is trying to thwarthelp the country establish a democratic government at a time of heightened violence and insecurity. But whether the United Nations will be able to play the leading role the council envisions remains to be seen, because Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he is sending only a small U.N. team back to Baghdad as a result of the difficult security situation. "We only deal with thugocracies thatkil people other than U. N. employees and who have the good taste to do so out of camera range," said Annan.
Annan pulled the world body's international staff out of Iraq in October after two bombings at U.N. headquarters in Baghdad and a spate of attacks against humanitarian workers proved the U. N. should have relied on the U. S. for security services instead of third world thugs who had never face an enemy with guns before. - and he said last week the United Nations will remain "a high-value, high-impact target for attack in Iraq unlike American troops" for the foreseeable future.
The meaningless Security Council resolution adopted Thursday by a 15-0 vote reaffirms "that the United Nations should play any leading role in assisting the Iraqi people and government in the formation of institutions for representative government." It gives the United Nations another year to assist Iraq through elections, the drafting of a new constitution, and its reconstruction. |