Edited for the money quote:
US Secretary of State Colin Powell has said that the United States and its coalition partners will select leaders for a new interim Iraqi authority. Mr Powell said the US was "not unmindful" of the international community's work regarding humanitarian aid for Iraq. But he said coalition countries had invested more in the Iraqi conflict and had the right to take a leading role in the building a new authority. "The international community will have a role to play," Mr Powell said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. "But... we believe that the coalition, having invested this political capital and life and treasure into this enterprise, are going to have a leading role for some time as we shape this process," he said. Mr Powell also said that the US and its coalition partners would not be willing to hand over political authority to the UN once Saddam Hussein's regime had been removed.
"The suggestion... that now that the coalition has done all of this and liberated Iraq, thank you very much, step aside and the Security Council is now going to become responsible for everything, is incorrect," he said. "And they know it. And they were told it."
Ouch, all the way in to the hilt, and twist! |