IRAQ

Sunday Herald: U-turn on the road to peace
By June 2004 US soldiers will be leaving Iraq, despite, or perhaps because of, mounting violence in the country. Diplomatic Editor

With a UN deadline of December 15 looming for an inclusive Iraqi plan of action President Bush’s administration has fast-tracked a new plan to transfer power to a provisional government by midsummer 2004. The decision is controversial for two reasons: it overturns the original phased withdrawal; and it abandons a promise to hand over power only after a constitution had been agreed and national elections held.
Under a new blueprint, agreed in Washington last week and confirmed to Iraqi leaders yesterday, the US will be able to claim that Iraq is no longer occupied well in advance of next November’s presidential elections.