With military operations in Iraq all but over, the attention of Washington and the world has turned to the problem of reconstructing a country devastated by war, sanctions and a generation of Ba'athist dictatorship. Much of the debate has centered on what role the United Nations should play. President Bush and Tony Blair have insisted that the United Nations has a "vital" role to play in the reconstruction, but seem to feel that it should be limited mostly to distributing humanitarian aid. The French and Russians, however, want the United Nations to oversee the political reconstruction of the country.

Frank Couvares

professor of american studies and history

"The United Nations should play a large part in supervising the Iraqi transition to representative government, as well as in rebuilding public services. But the United States, which prosecuted the war, should provide the great bulk of the money to rebuild. This seems to me both morally responsible and politically prudent."

Paul Fraioli '05

college democrats

"The foregoing deb-ate seems to be centered on Hans Blix and whether his team of U.N. inspectors should be able to continue searching for weapons of mass destruction. In a post-Saddam, American-occupied Iraq, this is ridiculous. The United Nations should be making the case to the United States and the international community for its necessity as a neutral humanitarian and peacekeeping body.

The United States is in a position to either grant or deny this access, and though for President Bush and the majority of the American people this seems a 'You're either with us or you're not' situation (and rightly so), it is not in our best interests for the extended rebuilding of Iraq to fall on American and British shoulders alone."

Deborah Gewertz

professor of anthropology

"Although I detested the Ba'ath regime in Iraq (which, lest we forget, was once supported by the United States), I was against the war and I am against the occupation. The war is a fait accompli. The occupation is ongoing (and, indeed, I have just learned that the United States is 'negotiating' with the government it is establishing for long-term access to four key Iraqi military bases). I am afraid that such an occupation will foster a client state in the form of a 'stable' (repressive) regime -a regime which will ensure 'our' access to oil and lucrative contracts rather than provide genuine democratic political reform, as well as social and economic benefits, for the Iraqi people. Such a regime would be, profoundly, not in the interests of most Iraqis and would continue to augment the weight of history in the Middle East that will ultimately rebound not only to our moral discredit but to our physical peril. So, if I had power, I would support all U.N. initiatives to return Iraq to the (many, socially committed) Iraqis."

Ali Hassan '05

political science and history major

"The United Nations should be in charge of Iraq's reconstruction because no one, Iraq included, trusts America to do the job. America keeps assuring Iraq and its neighbors that American occupation of Iraq will last 'months, not years.' Understandably, the American government does not want to inflame Islamist or Nationalist sentiments by overstaying its welcome. At the same time, though, we hear of four permanent American army bases to be set up in a ring around Iraq's oil fields.

The world sees America's intervention in Iraq as being motivated by an interest in Iraq's oil wealth. America's sorry attempt to rebuild Afghanistan does not leave one with much confidence in America's resolve or willingness to spend the money to properly rebuild another nation. U.S. control of Iraq's reconstruction would simply insure that America's corporations profit, and that America's wildly pro-Israel foreign policy is protected in the region. The United Nations should be in charge of the rebuilding of Iraq if only to insure that Iraq's people receive a government that reflects their desires, and that Iraqis are the beneficiaries of their nation's vast wealth of natural resources."

Grant Mandsager '04

college republicans

"While France may think that it will be able to continue its exploitation of Iraq after the war, the Security Council's role in rebuilding the country should be commensurate with the burden it bore to liberate her. Are we to forget the blood of American and British servicemen who fought to overthrow Saddam?  While its capacity for administering humanitarian aid enables it to provide food, medicine, and essential services, the United Nations as an institution is ill-equipped to facilitate the growth of democracy and self-government.  Iraq needs freedom now; it should not have to ask for approval."

Hélène Thiercy

french teaching assistant

"The United States should allow the United Nations to play a role in the coming months in Iraq in order to legitimate the war in regards to International Law. Moreover, the United Nations could be financially helpful, and the involvement of U.N. troops would be more accepted by the Iraqis than a uniquely American occupation. Finally, if establishing a democratic regime fails-which is very possible, regarding the influence of the Islamic imams and the type of men willing to control Iraq-the United Nations will be held responsible, and not the United States, which would have only 'liberated' Iraq."