POWELL DOCTRINE:

U.S.-French Rift Reopened as Powell Arrives for Talks: Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said a French proposal to cut back the role of the American-led occupation in Iraq was unacceptable to the U.S. (STEVEN R. WEISMAN, 9/13/03, NY Times)

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, reopening the trans-Atlantic rift over Iraq -- this time about expanding the authority of the United Nations there -- said today that a French proposal to cut back the role of the American-led occupation was unacceptable. [...]

"Nobody wants to turn sovereignty back to the Iraqi people as fast as the United States does, President Bush does and I do," Mr. Powell told France 2, a television network. But he said that the American occupation under "can't suddenly just step aside and turn it over -- to whom?"

He said that "since the United States and its coalition partners have invested a great deal of political capital, as well as financial resources, as well as the lives of our young men and women -- and we have a large force there now -- we can't be expected to suddenly just step aside."

At another point, Mr. Powell said: "We can't simply cede all responsibility and authority to the U.N. The U.N. isn't ready to handle it. The U.N. has not asked for it."

Aboard his plane, Mr. Powell told reporters that despite the deep differences with France, it might be possible to find language on which all sides could agree. He suggested that France was talking about abstract notions of sovereignty, whereas Washington would be willing to make some practical compromises.

"It's easy to toss out nice theories about sovereignty, occupation and liberation and all that," he said. But he said that "as a practical matter" the United Nations was not "properly staffed" to handle the transition to self-government in Iraq. [...]

"We need to get out of some of the rhetorical arguments we're having," he told French television. "One I hear is that the United States believes in the logic of occupation. Nonsense. Every European should know that the United States of America has always believed in the logic of liberation."

Seems like just days ago that folks were prattling on about Colin Powell's views being in the ascendancy and the Administration's reversal of its policy.

Posted by Orrin Judd at September 13, 2003 06:07 AM