In the meantime, the Red Cross decided to temporarily reduce its presence in Iraq, because of the fear of further attacks. All these reductions in staff are taking place despite the appeal by Secretary Powell not to do so. But it is all known that Secretary Powell has very little power and say over these happenings in Iraq. Any way, as the events continue to unfold, may be sooner than later, all others including the Americans would have to quit Iraq; for Americans -- sooner the better.

America has already lost 253 young people in uniform. Many now question -- was it worth the sacrifice Americans have made so far? Saddam could have been removed probably in a different way and so much of men and materials would not have been lost if CIA had done a little more work instead of falling into the trap of the Iraqi exiles living in the US and assembling most of the concocted stories about the weapons of mass destruction. But apparently the main mission of American Administration was not removal of Saddam which was obviously an Israeli agenda, it was oil and strong and permanent American presence in the Middle East. But both have backfired. Israeli agenda and tactics cannot work in the M-E; it's already too late. Former president Clinton understood it and this is why he made his last attempt, but failed.

America has now virtually lost its ground in the Middle East and so have its friends in the area. It will be very difficult for America to regain its position unless it changes its rightist regime in Washington and its entire attitude towards the world affairs. American Administration should carefully read the placards saying -- "America cannot rule the world" etc. that were being carried by the American protestors of Iraqi war in front of the White House. The occupation and rule by force are obsolete ideas and strategies and cannot work. Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories has been the burning proof. American people have started to understand, though late, that Bush Administration "lied" to the American people while going to war against Iraq and hence the present pressure of the Congress led by the Democrats on the White House to come out with truth and all intelligent reports on Iraq war. President Bush has already lost a lot of grounds in terms of his political future. The challenge from the Democrats is fairly strong.

On the issue of reconstruction of Iraq Malaysian leader Mahathir said: You (America) did it and you should fix it. What Mahathir meant was that America bombed and destroyed the major infrastructure of Iraq and it should repair them. The same was echoed by Carol Moseley Braun, a former US senator from Illinois. She said, "We blew the place up, we have to fix it back." This was apparently the position of France, Germany, Russia and many others of the UN, apart from their basic opposition to the war against Iraq. But these countries did not oppose the latest UNSC resolution on Iraq that invited all countries to contribute men and money to support America towards the reconstruction. They are apparently not participating in the reconstruction and security efforts with men and materials, but the general feeling is that if they had continued to oppose, America would finally be agreed to give the central role to the UN which was necessary.

Madrid conference on this yielded about US $20b, but as the security situation on the ground is extremely dangerous, it is uncertain whether any real help in terms of men and money would ultimately be placed by others for the purpose.

If America really wants to prove to the world that it is the liberator, then it must end its occupation gracefully. It lost its big opportunity when the last resolution came up in the UNSC for consideration. It could easily agree to give the controlling power to the UN and gradually and gracefully come out of Iraq. Any way, the opportunity is still there. In view of the present impossible security situation American administration may still work with countries like France, Germany and other UN heavy weights and agree to ask the UN to take over through its peace keeping force. The simple declaration that the US and coalition troops are leaving Iraq handing over everything to the UN peace-keepers, will gradually change the security situation on the ground in Iraq and particularly in Baghdad. But before that it would be important to agree possibly on the following:

The US-picked Interim Governing Council will have to be dissolved and in its place the UN could go for a UN sponsored temporary Administrative Council through some direct consultations with various tribal and ethnic groups (the groups themselves would choose their representatives in their own way. The very fact that they are going to be in control of their affairs soon would lead them to work in favour of the arrangement -- there would certainly be some fights but that would be within the groups). This sort of Council will have the authority under the supervision of the UN (certainly not under the Americans) to decide their affairs. The number of members in the Council will obviously have to be fairly large to accommodate many groups. The ratio could be -- Shia 3 : Sunni 2: Kurds 1( ultimately Kurds would have to be given autonomy within sovereign Iraq). This should have a revolving Chairman -- one every three months or so to satisfy the three groups. However, main support will have to be given by the UN representatives.

The above step or anything similar to this (but not hand picked by any country or group of countries) signifying transfer of Iraqi sovereignty to Iraqis would make the real difference as they will see that the American troops are not there. The exit of American and Coalition forces would indeed make the real difference. This sort of elected Council can later go for framing of the constitution within a set time limit after which the formal election could take place under UN mandate to form the government. Well, it would certainly take time but the foundation should be laid to achieve it. The Iraqis are all educated and had seen elections of some sort even before. So one could expect reasonably good results once they are given the authority to act.

This would probably be in the best interest of America too as this would ensure America a safe and honourable exit from this dangerous quagmire. American troops facing death every moment in Iraq and indeed all peace loving Americans would be interested to get out of Iraq. Bush Administration should also be interested in this sort of arrangement as then America could prove to the world that it went to Iraq for liberating Iraqi people and not for occupation.

Muslehuddin Ahmad, a former Secretary and Ambassador, is presently the Vice Chancellor of Presidency University.