Would it really be such a bad thing for the U.S. to Go Back to U.N. for Iraq Mandate?

Paul Saunders, director of the Nixon Center, a nonpartisan research organization whose honorary chairman is Henry A. Kissinger...said there were two reasons for the United States to go back to the United Nations.


"It would be helpful to diffuse responsibility for this massive undertaking, and share any dissatisfaction with others and not be the sole target ourselves," he said. "Externally, it's also helpful in rebuilding some of the relationships that were strained in the dispute over going in."

The problem is not just that some policy makers "would consider it humiliating", but

administration officials worry that United Nations participation might force them to cede operational control over Iraq, even as the United States continues to pay most of the cost.

Still, I hope we can work out some compromise, even though I have misgivings about a lot of UN behavior.