French Plan for Iraq Sets Up Clash on U.N. Security Council

The United States and France headed Friday for another showdown over Iraq, as Paris called for the creation of a provisional Iraqi government next month, a constitution by the end of the year and elections next spring if Washington wants more international help with reconstruction.

On the eve of talks in Geneva among the five veto-wielding U.N. Security Council members, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell called the French proposal “totally unrealistic.”

The United States, France, Britain, Russia and China are assembling today for a special meeting called by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to find common ground on a new Security Council resolution on Iraq before the opening of the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 22.

The U.S. is calling for a new resolution that would effectively give a U.N. imprimatur to the postwar process and help Washington persuade other nations to provide badly needed new troops to boost security and new funds for reconstruction.

But Washington is holding firm to its preference that the timing for a transfer of sovereignty be determined by the 25-member Iraqi Governing Council, which was appointed by the United States. “That’s the sensible way to do it,” Powell told reporters en route to Switzerland.

Powell and his French counterpart, Dominique de Villepin, have talked three times in the last week by phone but failed to resolve deep differences. The French foreign minister publicly outlined his country’s position in an opinion piece in the newspaper Le Monde on Friday. Today’s session could prove to be contentious.

Powell said it was easy to “toss out nice theories” about sovereignty and liberation, and though it would be “delightful” to be able to act as quickly as France advocates, the proposals are impractical. “It can’t happen in that time frame,” he said.

The United States, Powell said, can’t simply stop everything it is doing in Iraq and turn over control. “We have invested too much to consider such a proposal,” he said.

In interviews with the French, Russian and German media released Friday, Powell stressed that the United States wants to work with the United Nations, but that the U.S.-led coalition can’t cede all responsibility and authority in part because the U.N. is not ready to take over political control or military command of Iraq.

Germany and Russia, like France, have introduced changes to the draft resolution proposing a stronger U.N. role. Washington believes there are possible compromises with Moscow and perhaps Berlin; Powell described Russia’s proposals as “bridging comments” that Washington can deal with.

In spite of the friction with France, Powell said he would be surprised if the U.S. was not eventually able to rally the nine minimum votes to pass a Security Council resolution. Earlier this year, Washington was forced to pull out a resolution supporting military intervention in Iraq when it could not mobilize the nine votes and also faced vetoes, with opposition led by France.