President Bush went before the United Nations Tuesday, seeking assistance and reconciliation, but offering little in terms of concessions that might end a stalemate that has kept the international organization on the sidelines in Iraq.

He was answered by unrealistic demands from the leaders of Germany and France. German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder told reporters that he wants to see power shifted to the the people of Iraq in a matter of months, while France’s president, Jacques Chirac, called for a short timeline for Iraqi self-governance.

President Bush’s response: Don’t rush us. On this, he’s right.

The U.S.-appointed Governing Council in Iraq is not ready to rule, and the destabilized country is not ready for democracy.

Demands for an immediate transition to democracy are unrealistic. To prematurely hand over power, as some of our European allies ask, would leave Iraq vulnerable to the forces that seek to return it to despotic rule or to fight a holy war against the West.

Intimidation, murder and corruption stalk the streets of Baghdad. Divisions between Kurds, Sunni and Shiites were generations in the making. The country was held together by the dominating, terrible power of Saddam Hussein, who’s ghost-like presence still haunts the populace.

Remnants of his reign are joined by jihadists from other countries and other rebels in a battle against foreign occupiers and the Iraqis who are working with them to rebuild the country.

The infrastructure necessary for the Governing Council to rule is gone. Until it is repaired, there is little to turn over to them.

The United States is preparing a resolution to present to the U.N. Security Council. The terms have not been released. It is our hope that the Bush administration will offer enough of an incentive to bring the international community into the difficult task of rebuilding Iraq.

As it stands now, our fear is that the resolution will paper over the differences between Security Council members without addressing the underlying issues that separate the world’s major powers.

U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, while also criticizing U.S. policy, urged the world’s leaders to move beyond their differences over the invasion of Iraq and develop a framework for building a functional democracy.

To win international support, President Bush must be willing to compromise and allow the United Nations some measure of real authority. This country must shed its unilateral, cowboy image.

At the same time, other Security Council members must accept the realities in Iraq and abandon their calls for haste and their efforts to undermine U.S. legitimacy.

The world should heed Annan’s warning: “Excellencies, we have come to a fork in the road. This may be a moment no less decisive than 1945 itself, when the United Nations was founded.”
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