Pleuger discusses impact of war against Iraq on United Nations

Gunter Pleuger, permanent German representative to the United Nations, said yesterday evening he does not believe the credibility of the United Nations has been undermined by the U.S. decision to use force against Iraq.

Because the decision to take military action against Iraq was taken outside of the U.N. Security Council, Pleuger said, the results do not reflect poorly on the U.N.

"I don't think this was a failure of the U.N. or of international diplomacy," he said. "The [ U.N.] process was broken off without giving inspectors time to finish their jobs."

More importantly, Pleuger said, he believes international cooperation with the help of the U.N. will be necessary after the war is over. Then, an international body will have to step in to give the effort legitimacy, he said.

"The U.N. will be asked to come back into the game because they are needed," he said. "The U.S. can win any war . . . but the aftermath of war is where it gets interesting."

Pleuger cited the international community's recent multilateral effort to rebuild Afghanistan as an example of the intensive cooperation that will be necessary after completion of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Because of U.N. sanctions in the 12 years since the last conflict with Iraq, Pleuger said, the country is impoverished and 70 percent of the population already depends entirely on foreign aid.

"No single state can cope with this," Pleuger said. "Even the U.N. is not able to handle it alone."

Consequently, the U.N. is in the process of raising $2 billion for rebuilding purposes, Pleuger said. "In a short period of time, the Security Council and the U.N. will be in again," he said.

Pleuger's speech was hosted by the American Whig-Cliosophic society.