U.S. "We Will Stay Over Six Months After War"

The U.S. suggested that it will stay over 6 months in Iraq after the end of the war in Iraq.

It will take U.S. and British coalition forces more than six months to cede power in postwar Iraq to a new Iraqi government said Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz on Sunday.

Wolfowitz excluded the central postwar role of the U.N. analyzed by the New York Times.

Noting that it took about six months after the end of the 1991 Persian Gulf war for Kurdish forces in northern Iraq to establish effective self-governance, Wolfowitz said on Monday in an interview with Fox News that “this is a more complicated situation; it probably will take more time than that.”

Wolfowitz explained that the first postwar measures would be establishing coalition forces-led administration bodies, however, they will would eventually cede them to the Iraqi people.

Saying that the interim authority would take on the role of a bridge to a legitimate Iraqi government, Wolfowitz added that there is no timetable yet for handing over power to any Iraqi authority.

On the role of the United Nations he said that “humanitarian aid agencies of the U.N. have an important role to play in helping the Iraqi people.” On a question asking whether French, Russian, and German companies would have the opportunity to bid for contracts on rebuilding Iraq, he answered that “those are decisions that we hope will be made sooner, rather than later, by a legitimate Iraqi authority.”

Meanwhile Iraqi exiles and dissidents have been forming new military units reported the Washington Post on Sunday. Several hundred soldiers of the opposition Iraqi National Congress (INC) took up positions in Nasiriya, south of Baghdad, reported the INC.

The INC also added that Iraqi soldiers would serve under Gen. Tommy R. Franks and would take part in indirect military actions serving as translators and messengers. The BBC also confirmed that deployment of Iraqi soldiers commenced last Friday and about 1000 Iraqi soldiers had been deployed at a southern military base under U.S. control.

Among these, the most notable is Ahmad Chalabi. He is the leader of the INC, one of six anti-Hussein regime bodies. There is speculation that the Pentagon is training Chalabi as Prime Minister for postwar Iraqi. Pentagon officials claim that he is an able and adept politician to lead Iraq to democracy. However, CIA and the State Department are standing in opposition to the Pentagon saying he does not have much support in Iraq.

On Sunday, Chalabi said, possibly influenced by the Pentagon, U.S. forces should remain in the country for at least 2 years until elections can be held and a democratic government established.

Hye-Yoon Park parkhyey@donga.com