From: "Salil Tripathi" <salil61-AT-hotmail.com>
Subject: Kouchener on Iraq
Date: Wed, 07 May 2003 21:50:52 +0000


Jaclyn, I know you would be interested in this, given our past 
correspondence re Kouchener and Iraq. Here's a piece he wrote in WSJ today. 
Incidentally, the editorial I emailed a short while ago was also from WSJ.

Salil
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Lecons Sans Frontieres


By BERNARD KOUCHNER


PARIS -- I was one of too few French politicians who was
actively involved in pushing for Saddam Hussein's removal. I
supported American policies not for the sake of the war but in
the hope of improving the fate of the Iraqis and the chances of
peace in the Middle East. As a medical doctor, I spent many
years in Iraq, trying to relieve the suffering of the
Kurdish and Shiite populations. Since then, I have known that
the most formidable weapon of mass destruction threatening
his own people and our democratic values was Saddam himself.


Having also been, just after the Balkan wars, the U.N. special
representative in Kosovo at the very beginning of the
peacemaking process, I feel entitled to make a
few recommendations to my American friends.


While Iraq may have been an artificial creation of British
colonialism, its people have an ancient, memorable culture.
However ethnically and religiously fragmented,
they have developed over the past century a
strong sense of nationalism, cemented by urbanization and
dictatorship. They also have inherited a history of violence and
revenge. More than their neighbors, they have been able to
develop a secular, well-trained urban middle class, whose
women have had education and positions of responsibility.


At the same time, Iraqis have had no experience whatsoever
with democracy and free expression -- except for Kurds in the North,
who had been protected from Baghdad by the Anglo-American
imposition of a "no-fly zone" since the end of the first Gulf war. Of
course, there's also the Iraqi diaspora, some of whom might be
willing to play a role in rebuilding their former country, and
whose members have been exposed to the benefits of democracy and a
market economy. But they may not be necessarily welcome.


Now that the allies have toppled the regime, the Iraqi
population wants an immediate end to its suffering. The
situation is made all the more volatile by the fact that the
various components of Iraqi society are always on the brink of
violence. Whether they are easily manipulated by the Iranian mullahs
or not, the Shiites -- 65% of the population -- need to play a
leading role in the coming government: it is the best way to
prevent the real threat of an Islamic regime in Baghdad.


The exercise that L. Paul Bremer and Jay Garner -- the two
U.S.-appointed administrators for Iraq -- have now to conduct
is a difficult one. But there may be a few useful lessons learned
from the very recent experience in Kosovo:


• Time is of the essence. The very groups that appear to
be the most antagonistic to each other need to be drawn
into a process where they learn how to work
together.

• The population needs immediate measures to
improve daily life, such as working
hospitals, gas stations, policemen and
traffic lights.

• The military cannot do the job alone. There
will be more tension and incidents. There
needs to be order, but also law. A civilian
body of experts needs to be put in place with
a set of tools, the use of which is simple to
understand by the population. These
experts need to listen and talk to the Iraqis,
and also to respect them.

• The process depends on the maximum possible
involvement of local representatives, but
also on the determination to impose
a decision if it cannot be reached by
consensus. Take no decisions without
consulting the Iraqis, but even so, don't
hesitate to overrule them if need be.



These are all reasons why the Americans and
the British (not to forget the Poles, who
will also administer a part of Iraq) have to
work with the international community, i.e the U.N.
It is not right to condemn it as an evil
system, as some U.S. conservatives are prone
to do. It is as good and as successful as
our democratic governments want it to
be. Whenever we have worked together,
pursuing the same goals, the U.N. has
been effective: Bosnia, Timor, Kosovo. It is
only when we are in conflict that the
system derails, and that "evil forces" gain
strength. The international system
needs to be improved. We all have to
contribute if we want democracy to prevail.


History shows that it is always up to the
winner to display vision, leadership and
generosity. To win back public opinion in the
many parts of the world that are showing
worrying signs of anti-Americanism,
success is needed in Iraq. You have won the
war, now the challenge is to win the peace.
Listen to your friends: you cannot do it alone.


Dr. Kouchner, founder of Medecins Sans
Frontieres and former French health minister,
was head of the U.N. mission in Kosovo in 1999-2000.
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