Washington, Aug 28: The US administration is exploring the possibility of establishing a UN-endorsed multinational force in Iraq that would be led by an American
commander, a top State Department official says.
Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage
acknowledged that the idea is one of many being weighed by
the administration as it attempts to deal with continuing
violence in Iraq almost four months after President George W.
Bush declared an end to major combat operations.
Armitage outlined his thoughts in an interview with
regional US newspapers on Tuesday, a text of which was made
available by the State Department.
Secretary of State Colin Powell traveled to New York
last Thursday to issue an appeal for a new UN Security Council
resolution that would reinforce UN support for the deployment
of additional foreign forces in Iraq.
But initial soundings by administration officials
suggested minimal support for that approach, taking into
account continuing resentment among many Security Council
members about the US decision in March to go to war in Iraq
without UN endorsement.
Since then, the administration has been trying out
other ideas that would address US concerns about continuing
instability in Iraq without yielding to American insistence
on retaining command over international forces in Iraq.
Bureau Report
