U.N. Diplomats Are Waiting for the Other Shoe to Drop

UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 15 - When United Nations officials speak of Iraq these days, any impulse to gloat is quickly supplanted by frustration over the harsh realities of the situation in Iraq and sadness over the loss of 19 colleagues who died in a bombing in August.

``There may be a temptation to rub one's hands together and say, `Ha, ha! It's not working out the way Bush thought - we told you so!''' a senior United Nations administrator said this week. ``But, frankly, it's not good for anyone if the U.S. is defeated in Iraq.''

The Bush administration's decision this week to speed up the transfer of power to the Iraqis won evenhanded, public praise from Secretary General Kofi Annan, who had long championed a quicker restoration of Iraqi sovereignty.

But officials and diplomats here, while welcoming the policy change, warned privately against a rapid reduction of American military forces and said they feared that the United States would dump Iraq into the hands of the United Nations.

``We in the international community are waiting for the tablets to come down from Washington,'' a foreign diplomat said nervously. ``Who knows what sort of face-saving formula they're going to come up with.''

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http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/16/international/middleeast/16WEB-NATI.html?hp=&pagewanted=print&position=

"But, frankly, it's not good for anyone if the U.S. is defeated in Iraq."

I am not about to argue that it would be a good thing for anyone, but I would like to know what prompted this statement? It is ambiguous at best, and leaves open the question of what exactly a US 'defeat' means.


"We in the international community are waiting for the tablets to come down from Washington,"

I won't comment on this statement, other than to question the source and the affiliation.


"Who knows what sort of face-saving formula they're going to come up with."
Perhaps the most bothersome statement of the three. We all wonder what they will come up with to save face. Not much that I would put in the category of 'out-of-bounds' for the present administration.

These are all very interesting statements, and all of them deserve some real scrutiny.

in the UN is saying something like this: ``Who knows what sort of face-saving formula they're going to come up with.'' That way when they actually do come up with something somebody will question it. Or is that wishful thinking on my part that someone would hold these clowns accountable?