France proposed on Sunday that Iraq has to give its agreement to a major operations by U.S. troops in an amendment to a U.S.-British Security Council draft resolution on Baghdad’s future.
Letters from Iraq and the United States, which will be attached to the resolution, say the two countries had agreed on a framework to coordinate military operations and to seek agreement on sensitive political ventures.
But France proposed an amendment during closed-door consultations that would make explicit the powers of an Iraqi interim government, which takes office on June 30.
It says Iraq could decide on whether its own forces would engage in a U.S.-led military operation and "that its agreement will be required on sensitive offensive operations."
It was unknown if the French initiative, which its diplomats say is backed by Algeria, Germany and China, will delay adoption of the resolution the United States hopes will be put to a vote on Tuesday.
Sometimes I have the weird feeling that France wants to drive the UN into complete irrelevance. I mean as a deliberate strategy and not as an unintended consequence. |