Washington trying to get itself replaced by UN in Iraq - former Bush official
 London, 24 May 2007 (AFP)
The United States is putting together plans to secure greater involvement of the United Nations in Iraq so that it can reduce its own troop levels in the country, The Guardian newspaper reported on Wednesday. Citing a former senior US administration official, the daily said that the US plans also included efforts to increase the involvement of the UN Security Council, plus Japan and EU countries in Iraq , as well as a bigger role for Iraq’s neighbors.
“The … plan calls for moving on several fronts,” the unidentified official, who is familiar with administration thinking, told the paper. “Firstly, there is the international plan to win political, economic and military support for the Iraqi government and state, not least by going to the UN and asking for a UN command and flag to supplant the US coalition command.
“Regionally, there is diplomacy aimed at mobilizing more Arab neighbors … countries like Saudi Arabia should support [Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-] Maliki before he has no choice but to fully align with Iran.
“Internally, the plan is for US forces to help isolate [Islamic extremists], peel off Sunnis from the insurgency, contain hardcore elements of Moqtada al-Sadr’s Mehdi Army, and halt Iranian and trans-Syrian infiltration of troops and material.”
According to the official, the United States may also cut a deal with Sadr in an effort to secure an orderly transition of power.
General David Petraeus, commander of US forces in Iraq, is expected to report on the progress of US President George W. Bush’s new Iraq security policy in September.