Rumsfeld and Franks Say Rebuilding May Take Years

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Army Gen. Tommy Franks on Friday described the rebuilding of Iraq as a task that could last for years, urging patience as they acknowledged lingering problems with restoring basic services and security.

Rumsfeld briefed reporters at the Pentagon as the United States introduced a U.N. resolution to end sanctions on Iraq that for the first time referred to the U.S. and Britain as “the occupying power” of postwar Iraq. The resolution, unveiled at the Security Council, would give the U.S. and its allies control over Iraq’s oil money.

The tone of the closed-door meeting at U.N. headquarters in New York was markedly different from the bitterness that paralyzed the council in the days leading to the war in Iraq.

“I think today was very constructive and was very much in the nature of how we can better understand this resolution and how we can look forward instead of looking back at some of the acrimonious exchanges of the past,” U.S. Ambassador John D. Negroponte said.

In Washington, Rumsfeld and Franks refused to be pinned down on how long U.S. forces might occupy Iraq.

“What the future will hold a year, two, three ahead of us is not exactly knowable,” said Franks, the Central Command chief who directed the war.

Rumsfeld said the situation calls for “people to be realistic ... and recognize that this country does not have a history of representative or democratic systems. It’s going to take some time, and it’s going to take some patience.”

Rumsfeld said a map at U.S. Central Command headquarters in Qatar graphically illustrates the progress he said has been made since U.S.-led forces toppled the Iraqi regime.

Twenty-seven cities are highlighted on the map, each given a color to rate its overall security and resources. The last red marker -- denoting cities in worse shape than they were before the war -- disappeared Friday, Rumsfeld told reporters at the Pentagon briefing. A few blue ones -- identifying cities in better shape now than before the war -- have appeared in recent days, he said.

“I think that the reality is that it is a very difficult transition from despotism and repression to a freer system. It’s untidy,” he said. “There will be fits and starts, and a couple of steps forward and a step back. There’ll be bumps along the way.”

Rumsfeld and Franks insisted that continued disorder doesn’t indicate a flawed plan for the postwar reconstruction of Iraq, as some critics have charged. Those critics have suggested that better planning might have averted problems with looting and restoring water and power supplies and prevented the return of former Baath Party officials to leadership positions.

Pentagon strategists said they are making progress in persuading allies to take on some reconstruction tasks, asking for help from a list drawn up at Central Command of about two dozen nations with relevant expertise. Among the participating nations are Britain, Spain, Italy and Poland. Several other Eastern European nations and some Pacific Rim countries also are expected to participate.

The U.S. is asking larger nations to send thousands of troops in battalion-sized units. Others are being asked to contribute perhaps a company of fewer than 100 troops, a Pentagon official said.

It could take two months for a new international structure to replace the existing one, in which U.S. military units oversee Iraq in three regions, the official said.

Franks acknowledged that power, water and safety are among the most immediate concerns of Iraqis but said security is paramount.

“Security in that country is absolutely critical to everything else that’s going to be done there,” Franks said. “A condition has to be established so that the people of Iraq can feel free to, you know, un-shutter the windows of their shops and go to work and so forth.” Nevertheless, he defended progress made in Iraq.

“The predicted humanitarian crisis in Iraq has been averted by the provision of food, water, medicines -- in fact, at levels in some cases never before seen by the Iraqis,” Franks asserted.

At the United Nations, Security Council members expressed intense interest in the definition of the U.N. role in Iraq and asked many questions about the lifting of sanctions, Negroponte told reporters.

“This subject has been on the agenda of the council since 1990 ... and the situation now has been dramatically altered, and a way has to be found to first of all disentangle and disengage the United Nations from many of the resolutions that were passed under entirely different circumstances,” Negroponte said.

Russian Ambassador Sergei V. Lavrov, who was outspoken in the prewar debate, told reporters only that he had a “long list of questions.”

French Ambassador Jean-Marc de la Sabliere said his nation is adopting “a very constructive approach and a very pragmatic approach” in negotiations over the complex draft resolution. But De la Sabliere added, “There are some difficulties and question marks.”

He said he already had asked for “some clarification” of the political process that is mentioned in the text. He said France believes the role of a special U.N. representative or coordinator called for in the draft should be politically “enhanced.”

The resolution calls for the coordinator to play a chiefly humanitarian role. It also calls for an advisory board to be established that audits how Iraq’s oil money is spent.

Under the resolution, the United States and Britain will control Iraq’s resources and revenue until a permanent government is established. Their administration of Iraq would be reviewed by the council one year after the resolution’s adoption.

British Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock said the fact that there are occupying powers on the ground in Iraq establishes a basis for a clear discussion in the council of what happens next.

“There needs now to be a series of things done on the ground that goes beyond the minimum requirements of occupying powers, and we want the international community to be involved in that endeavor,” Greenstock said.

A senior U.S. official said Friday that he believes the U.N. resolution on Iraq will succeed.

“The issues here are not philosophical,” he said. “People were against using force in Iraq. Nobody’s against helping the Iraqis make it.... There’s a general incentive to come together, both for the sake of bilateral relations and for the sake of the Security Council and its role.”

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Hendren reported from Washington and Goldman from the United Nations. Times staff writer Sonni Efron in Washington contributed to this report.