The UNDisputed Fact

NEW YORK

The Iraq crisis has created a large number of casualties, and some suggestthat the United Nations should be added to the list. International publicperception certainly points that way. The label of "irrelevance,"which had been flung at the UN during the unfruitful debates at the SecurityCouncil, continues to hang in the air. But the UN still remains the onlyOrganization with the international legitimacy and experience to deal withproblems that threaten the world's well-being and security. And it continues toplay a crucial role in Iraq.

But a Pew poll taken in 20 countries in mid-2003 showed that the UN hadsuffered a great deal of collateral damage over Iraq. The UN's credibility wasdown in the US because it did not support the US Administration on the war –and in 19 other countries because the UN failed to prevent the war. A 2004 Pewpoll continued to show that the Organization's standing was lower than everbefore in the US and in a number of Muslim countries.

Ironically, when President Bush called on the UN Security Council inSeptember 2002 to take action against Iraq, he framed the problem not as one ofunilateral US wishes, but as an issue of the implementation of earlier SecurityCouncil resolutions. The UN was at the heart of the US case against Iraq.

And, despite failing to win Security Council support for the intervention,the US brought Iraq back to the UN within two months of the start of the war.The Council adopted Resolution 1483 in May 2003, asking the Secretary-General toappoint a Special Representative to help the Coalition build aninternationally-recognized, representative government. The fact that Washingtonsubmitted this resolution to the Security Council was a tacit acknowledgmentthat there is, in Secretary-General Kofi Annan's words, no substitute for theunique legitimacy provided by the United Nations.

This point is not just a matter of legal theory, either. Cooperation with theUN was integral to the United States during the post-war period. WithoutResolution 1483, the US-led coalition could not have sold a single drop of Iraqioil; the resolution created an international law that allowed the Coalitionauthorities in Iraq to conduct normal commerce.

UN representatives were also on the ground in Iraq facilitating thereconstruction effort. The duly-appointed Special Representative, Sergio Vieirade Mello, went to Baghdad and made considerable progress in building bridgesbetween Iraq and its future, when his mission was cut short by a suicide bombingof his headquarters on August 19, 2003. Yet despite this tragedy and asubsequent attack which led to the withdrawal of international staff, the heroicUN local staff stayed and continued to provide essential aid, delivering 500,000metric tons of food and some 11 million liters of water a month to Baghdad andBasrah. The UN has also helped revive schools; delivered fertilizer, herbicides,and pesticides in the lead-up to the planting season; and provided medicalsupplies to local hospitals.

The Coalition has also turned to the UN to benefit from its experience inbuilding democratic institutions and processes. When the Coalition decided tohand over sovereignty by June 30, 2004, it again turned to the UN to identifyIraqi interlocutors and chart the way forward. A team led by UN Special EnvoyLakhdar Brahimi helped craft the Interim Government at the end of June, ahead ofschedule. Since then, the United Nations has been active in helping Iraq conveneand run a national conference to select a Consultative Council; in facilitatingthe new authorities' development of electoral law and set up an IndependentElectoral Commission; and in working with these bodies to prepare for electionsscheduled for January 2005.

The Security Council has also adhered strictly to its role as instructor andadvisor, making it clear that the Iraqis own this process. The Councilacknowledged that the UN would only undertake certain tasks "ascircumstances permit" – code for "when we can ensure the security ofour staff." Since July, a new Special Representative of theSecretary-General, Ashraf Jehangir Qazi of Pakistan, has been deployed toBaghdad with a small team, bolstered by experts rotating in and out of thecountry.

Clearly, the security situation in Iraq remains a serious concern. Everythingthat can be managed or coordinated from outside Iraq will be, until thesituation improves. The necessary conditions include sufficient security forcesto protect our civilian staff, or – more hopefully – an overall decline inthe violence and improved general security for everyone in Iraq.

UN staff have reason to resent accusations made by some commentators thatthey will not face dangers to help people, however. The accusation is doublyoffensive, considering three of our colleagues are currently being held hostagein Afghanistan, and thousands of others continue to risk death and debilitatingdisease in peacekeeping and humanitarian operations around the world. Butprotection and security for UN staff – indeed for anybody going into Iraq tohelp – is a basic and essential prerequisite.

The desire to ensure the safety of staff has not hindered the UN from makinginvaluable contributions to the development of a viable, democratic nation. TheIndependent Electoral Commission of Iraq (IECI), which the UN helped establish,will oversee the impending Iraqi election. While not organizing, conducting, ormonitoring the election, the UN is advising the Iraqis, at their request. Dozensof UN staff have provided – and continue to provide – extensive technicalassistance to the IECI. And this is all accomplished with only a few individualsbased in Baghdad.

The critical phase in the lead-up to the elections is this month. Voterregistration started on November 1, on schedule, and 85 percent of the 542registration centers are now open. (Incidentally, the Oil for Food Program'sfood distribution lists provide the basis for the provisional voters' roll.) Thetechnical preparations for the elections are critical – but so is thepolitical and security environment. If politicians do not feel safe enough tocampaign, and voters are afraid to line up to cast a ballot, the election willbe compromised. The political parties seem largely supportive, and the politicalspace created by the prospect of elections is broadening to include the likes ofMoqtada al-Sadr, who had so far stayed out of it. But security remains a keyvariable – and it rests in the hands of Iraqis themselves, and the US-ledmultinational force. The responsibility for determining whether the electionsultimately can take place in January belongs to the people charged with runningthose elections – the Iraqis of the Independent Electoral Commission.

The ultimate objective of all UN involvement in Iraq has been for Iraqis toregain control of their own political destiny. We hope that the elections takeplace, and that they are as inclusive as possible. The divisions that bedeviledthe Organization in early 2003 are behind us; Secretary-General Annan hasrepeatedly stated that it is in everyone's interest to see the emergence of apeaceful and stable Iraq. But the crisis isn't over, and the UN is in the midst– ready and willing to play its unique part in helping create a new Iraq.

Shashi Tharoor is the UN Under-Secretary-General for Communications andPublic Information. This article appeared in YaleGlobalOnline, a publication of the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization, and is reprinted by permission. Copyright © 2004 Yale Center for the Study of Globalization