Bush Plan Will Limit Sovereignty for Iraqis
Lack of lawmaking powers may create rift with U.S. allies
By Steven R. Weisman
The New York Times
WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration's plans for a new caretaker government in Iraq would place severe limits on its sovereignty, including only partial command over its armed forces and no authority to enact new laws, administration officials said Thursday.
These restrictions to the plan negotiated with Lakhdar Brahimi, the special U.N. envoy, were presented in detail for the first time by top administration officials at congressional hearings this week, culminating in long and intense questioning at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday at a hearing on the goal of returning Iraq to self-rule on June 30.
Only 10 weeks from the transfer of sovereignty, the administration is still not sure exactly who will govern in Baghdad, or precisely how they will be selected.
A week ago, President Bush agreed to a recommendation by Brahimi to dismantle the existing Iraqi Governing Council, which was hand picked by the United States, and replace it with a caretaker government whose makeup is to be decided next month.
That government would stay in power until elections are held, beginning next year.
The administration's plans seem likely to face objections on several fronts. Several European and U.N. diplomats said in interviews that they do not think that the United Nations will go along with a Security Council resolution sought by Washington that handcuffs the new Iraq government in its authority over its own armed forces, let alone foreign forces on its soil.
These diplomats, and some U.S. officials, said that if the American military command orders a siege of an Iraqi city, and there is no language calling for an Iraqi government to participate in the decision, the government might not be able to survive protests that could follow.
The diplomats added that it may be unrealistic to expect the new Iraqi government not to demand the right to change Iraqi laws put in place by the American occupation under L. Paul Bremer III, including provisions limiting the influence of Islamic religious law.
Democratic and Republican senators appeared frustrated on Thursday that so few details are known at this stage in the transition process, and several focused on the question of who would be in charge of Iraq's security.
Asked whether the new Iraqi government would have a chance to approve military operations led by U.S. commanders, who would be in charge of both foreign and Iraqi forces, a senior administration official said Americans would have the final say.
"The arrangement would be, I think as we are doing today, that we would do our very best to consult with that interim government and take their views into account," said Marc Grossman, undersecretary of state for political affairs. But he added that American commanders will "have the right, and the power, and the obligation" to decide.
In another sphere, Grossman said there would be curbs on the powers of the national conference of Iraqis that Brahimi envisions as a consultative body. The conference, he said, is not expected to pass laws or revise laws adopted under the American occupation.
"We don't believe that the period between the first of July and the end of December should be a time for making new laws," Grossman said.
As envisioned by Brahimi, the caretaker government is to consist of a president, a prime minister, two vice presidents or deputy prime ministers, and a Cabinet of ministers in each agency. A vast national conference of perhaps a thousand Iraqis would advise it, possibly by establishing a smaller body of perhaps a hundred Iraqis.
His plan supplants an earlier U.S. proposal that would have chosen an Iraqi assembly through caucuses. It also rules out a more recent alternative, which would have handed over control to an expanded version of the current governing council.
Since last November, when the June 30 transfer of sovereignty was approved by President Bush and decreed by Bremer in Iraq, the United States has proclaimed that Iraq will have a full transfer of sovereignty on that date.
Grossman, however, referred in testimony on Wednesday to what he said would be "limited sovereignty," a phrase he did not repeat Thursday, apparently because it raised eyebrows among those not expecting the administration to acknowledge that the sovereignty would be less than full-fledged.
The problem of limiting Iraq's sovereignty is more than one of terminology, several administration officials said in interviews this week.
The proposed curbs on Iraqi sovereignty are paving the way for what officials and diplomats say is shaping up as another potential battle with U.S. allies as the United Nations is asked to confer legitimacy on the new government.
"Clearly you can't have a sovereign government speaking for Iraq in international forums, and yet leave open this possibility that we'll do something they won't particularly like or disagree with," said an administration official. "There's got to be something to be set up to deal with that possibility."
Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., the ranking Democrat on the foreign relations panel, and Sen. Jon Corzine, D-N.J., pressed Grossman on that point at the foreign relations panel.
European and U.N. diplomats said that because the main task of the caretaker government will be to try to secure the support of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, whose supporters are unhappy with some of the laws enacted by the Iraqi Governing Council, there may have to be a change in these laws.
Under the basic legal framework pressed by Bremer, Islam is only one of many foundations of the law. Al-Sistani's supporters want Islam to govern such matters as family law, divorce and women's rights. Bremer had at one time threatened to veto any such change, but even some administration officials acknowledge that the idea of telling the new Iraqi government it cannot enact new laws is unrealistic.
A European official familiar with Brahimi's thinking said the envoy wants the new caretaker government and its consultative body -- as many as a thousand Iraqis from across the country -- "to find a consensus on the fundamental law to make sure Sistani is invested."
"Everybody wants to have Sistani on board," said this diplomat. "For that you'll have to pay a price."
Lack of lawmaking powers may create rift with U.S. allies
By Steven R. Weisman
The New York Times
WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration's plans for a new caretaker government in Iraq would place severe limits on its sovereignty, including only partial command over its armed forces and no authority to enact new laws, administration officials said Thursday.
These restrictions to the plan negotiated with Lakhdar Brahimi, the special U.N. envoy, were presented in detail for the first time by top administration officials at congressional hearings this week, culminating in long and intense questioning at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday at a hearing on the goal of returning Iraq to self-rule on June 30.
Only 10 weeks from the transfer of sovereignty, the administration is still not sure exactly who will govern in Baghdad, or precisely how they will be selected.
A week ago, President Bush agreed to a recommendation by Brahimi to dismantle the existing Iraqi Governing Council, which was hand picked by the United States, and replace it with a caretaker government whose makeup is to be decided next month.
That government would stay in power until elections are held, beginning next year.
The administration's plans seem likely to face objections on several fronts. Several European and U.N. diplomats said in interviews that they do not think that the United Nations will go along with a Security Council resolution sought by Washington that handcuffs the new Iraq government in its authority over its own armed forces, let alone foreign forces on its soil.
These diplomats, and some U.S. officials, said that if the American military command orders a siege of an Iraqi city, and there is no language calling for an Iraqi government to participate in the decision, the government might not be able to survive protests that could follow.
The diplomats added that it may be unrealistic to expect the new Iraqi government not to demand the right to change Iraqi laws put in place by the American occupation under L. Paul Bremer III, including provisions limiting the influence of Islamic religious law.
Democratic and Republican senators appeared frustrated on Thursday that so few details are known at this stage in the transition process, and several focused on the question of who would be in charge of Iraq's security.
Asked whether the new Iraqi government would have a chance to approve military operations led by U.S. commanders, who would be in charge of both foreign and Iraqi forces, a senior administration official said Americans would have the final say.
"The arrangement would be, I think as we are doing today, that we would do our very best to consult with that interim government and take their views into account," said Marc Grossman, undersecretary of state for political affairs. But he added that American commanders will "have the right, and the power, and the obligation" to decide.
In another sphere, Grossman said there would be curbs on the powers of the national conference of Iraqis that Brahimi envisions as a consultative body. The conference, he said, is not expected to pass laws or revise laws adopted under the American occupation.
"We don't believe that the period between the first of July and the end of December should be a time for making new laws," Grossman said.
As envisioned by Brahimi, the caretaker government is to consist of a president, a prime minister, two vice presidents or deputy prime ministers, and a Cabinet of ministers in each agency. A vast national conference of perhaps a thousand Iraqis would advise it, possibly by establishing a smaller body of perhaps a hundred Iraqis.
His plan supplants an earlier U.S. proposal that would have chosen an Iraqi assembly through caucuses. It also rules out a more recent alternative, which would have handed over control to an expanded version of the current governing council.
Since last November, when the June 30 transfer of sovereignty was approved by President Bush and decreed by Bremer in Iraq, the United States has proclaimed that Iraq will have a full transfer of sovereignty on that date.
Grossman, however, referred in testimony on Wednesday to what he said would be "limited sovereignty," a phrase he did not repeat Thursday, apparently because it raised eyebrows among those not expecting the administration to acknowledge that the sovereignty would be less than full-fledged.
The problem of limiting Iraq's sovereignty is more than one of terminology, several administration officials said in interviews this week.
The proposed curbs on Iraqi sovereignty are paving the way for what officials and diplomats say is shaping up as another potential battle with U.S. allies as the United Nations is asked to confer legitimacy on the new government.
"Clearly you can't have a sovereign government speaking for Iraq in international forums, and yet leave open this possibility that we'll do something they won't particularly like or disagree with," said an administration official. "There's got to be something to be set up to deal with that possibility."
Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., the ranking Democrat on the foreign relations panel, and Sen. Jon Corzine, D-N.J., pressed Grossman on that point at the foreign relations panel.
European and U.N. diplomats said that because the main task of the caretaker government will be to try to secure the support of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, whose supporters are unhappy with some of the laws enacted by the Iraqi Governing Council, there may have to be a change in these laws.
Under the basic legal framework pressed by Bremer, Islam is only one of many foundations of the law. Al-Sistani's supporters want Islam to govern such matters as family law, divorce and women's rights. Bremer had at one time threatened to veto any such change, but even some administration officials acknowledge that the idea of telling the new Iraqi government it cannot enact new laws is unrealistic.
A European official familiar with Brahimi's thinking said the envoy wants the new caretaker government and its consultative body -- as many as a thousand Iraqis from across the country -- "to find a consensus on the fundamental law to make sure Sistani is invested."
"Everybody wants to have Sistani on board," said this diplomat. "For that you'll have to pay a price."
