WASHINGTON, Jan 17: The Bush administration is quietly working on a plan to allow victorious US generals to rule over Iraq for an interim period once they oust President Saddam Hussein, The Washington Post reported on Friday.
The paper said that the Bush administration’s blueprints for Iraq’s future outlined a broad and protracted American role in managing the reconstruction of the country.
The plans, which were nearing completion, envisioned installing a civilian administration within months of a change of government, US officials said. But they also said that even under the best of circumstances, US forces would remain at full strength in Iraq for months after a war ended, with a continued role for thousands of American troops there for years to come.
The Iraqis relegated to advisory roles in the immediate postwar period would gradually be given a greater role, but they would not regain control of their country for a year or more, according to current US thinking.
A primary mission for the US forces if hostilities broke out would be to protect the country’s oil fields and prevent rival factions from settling scores or grabbing territory. During the initial postwar phase, the US military and its partners would concentrate on maintaining stability and searching for nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, officials said.
Army Lt-Gen David McKiernan, the commander of land forces to enter Iraq, would be expected to remain as the top military commander on the ground, a senior defence official said.
The plans, which have been under development for months, have yet to be presented to President Bush. Officials emphasized that much remained unknown and much could change, depending on how Hussein’s rule ends. But the blueprints revealed that the administration was preparing for what would be a significant, long-term commitment of manpower, money and other resources to governing and rebuilding Iraq, a fractious country of 24 million people in one of the world’s most volatile regions, they added.
The administration intends to call for the prosecution of Iraq’s top civilian and military leaders for war crimes or other offences. Decisions about lower-ranking officials would be made later by Iraqis, with some perhaps offered incentives for good behavior. The US officials expect that much of the existing Iraqi bureaucracy would continue to manage day-to-day government tasks such as public health and utilities.
Despite months of negotiations with Iraqi exiles in Europe, the United States and the Middle East, the Bush administration does not intend to install a government of opposition figures. Members of the opposition community would be given chances to prove themselves as part of a prospective Iraqi leadership.
SADDAM ENVOY: A top Iraqi official and President Saddam Hussein’s cousin Ali Hassan al Majid arrived in Damascus on Friday.
There was no explanation for the arrival of Majid, who is a member of Iraq’s decision-making Revolutionary Command Council.
Majid was to have visited Egypt on Saturday to deliver a message from Saddam Hussein to President Hosni Mubarak, but a source at the Egyptian presidency said on Wednesday his trip had been postponed, without giving a reason or a new date.
Syria, along with other neighbours of Iraq plus Egypt, are trying to find a formula acceptable to both Washington and Baghdad to head off a US-led invasion.
Mubarak’s announcement of his mission prompted a call for the Egyptian authorities to arrest Majid on his arrival from a London-based international group, Indict, seeking to have alleged Iraqi war criminals brought to trial.
