Former President Bill Clinton sees a bright future for Iraq, if NATO takes
charge of the security operation there.
Speaking at a press conference with former Brazilian President Fernando
Henrique Cardoso in Madrid Sunday, Clinton called for The North Atlantic
Treaty Organization to call the shots on the security front under a United
Nations mandate.
“We should revisit the question of whether the U.N. could assume
responsibilities at least on paper for the security operations as well with
NATO,” Clinton said, according to Agence France-Presse.
Clinton argued such a move would induce the international community to
assume a greater role in the reconstruction of the country.
Clinton’s comments follow the recent convening of the International
Donors Conference in Madrid, which was attended by 77 countries who
collectively only anted up $13 billion in grants and loans to fund the rebuilding of Iraq
while the U.S. has pledged $20 billion.
 Secretary of State Colin Powell at the International Donors Conference for the Reconstruction of Iraq in Madrid, Spain, Oct. 23. |
Most of the funds will go into a trust to be managed by the World Bank, the
U.N. and a committee of Iraqis.
In expanding his theory, Clinton suggested U.S. troops should not be
withdrawn immediately “because the Iraqi economy and security environment
is not sufficiently strong.”
Many original opponents of the Iraq war, including France and Germany,
have called for the U.N. to take over authority in Iraq immediately.
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