Abstract

Buyer's Remorse on Iraq

The author comments on the reaction of the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush to violence and political unrest in Iraq. [F]or much of the past year the Administration has treated Iraq like an imperial possession, fending off suggestions that the United States needed the help of the United Nations or the legitimacy that its mandate would confer. But recent developments have begun to force some changes in the White House attitude. With US casualties mounting and resistance growing, the Administration displayed the first signs of buyer's remorse, even as it tried to convince the world of its resolve to "stay the course." The Administration has also begun to take into account the viewpoints of a nascent Iraqi leadership, accepting the intervention of some members of the (admittedly US-selected) Iraqi Governing Council in negotiations with the Falluja insurgents and of Shiite leaders in dealing with radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. We'll have to wait to see whether the new realism is a tactical retreat from earlier arrogance or a real change in policy. But the Administration will have to go a lot further in relinquishing control if it expects either the UN or NATO to buy into its plan.