GET ON BOARD THE PEACE TRAIN:

How G-8 may unify around Iraq: A UN resolution could encourage leaders at the Sea Island summit to offer more aid for Iraq. (Ron Scherer, 6/08/04, CS Monitor)

The US and its European allies are very close to agreeing on a UN resolution that would both allow US forces to remain in the country and give the interim Iraqi government some authority over major military actions. Such a resolution, many hope, will encourage more countries to take another key step: providing financial aid to Iraq - perhaps starting at this summit. If the US and Europe, particularly France, move closer toward resolving their differences at Sea Island, it would help heal the wounds created by the war last year.

"This is the most critical summit in a long time," says Robert Hormats, vice chairman of Goldman Sachs International. "This is an opportunity to heal some old wounds and get more of a consensus on Iraq assistance."

The progress on the United Nations resolution has come so quickly, in fact, that it might change the agenda for the summit. Last week in an advance Group of Eight briefing for the press, Condoleezza Rice, the president's national security adviser, didn't even mention Iraq. The summit, the White House said, would have three main themes: security, freedom, and prosperity.

Now with the resolution moving forward, says Mr. Hormats, who is a former member of the National Security Council, the United States will try to get everyone to agree on more foreign assistance and debt restructuring for Iraq.

Compared with last year, it could practically be a love fest.

The looming success in Iraq is working wonders, eh?

Posted by Orrin Judd at June 7, 2004 6:28 PM