Loosing the peace?

The United Nations may be one of George Bush's least favourite places, but his diplomats - and those of Britain and Spain - are doing their utmost to get other nations to agree a resolution which would, among other things allow the United States and her allies to run Iraq.

Apart from complaints about the language of the draft UN resolution, the threesome have a presentational problem. What's happened so far in Baghdad isn't the greatest advertisement.

Jeremy Paxman spoke to Britain's recently despatched Special Representative to Iraq, John Sawers who will deputise for Paul Bremer, the US' new civil administrator. Jeremy began by asking him what he thought had gone wrong with the post-war administration?

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JOHN SAWERS:
It's not so much that it's going wrong, it's just that it hasn't moved forward as rapidly and as determinedly as we'd hoped. That is partly because we haven't had a single figure here who has brought together the military and the civilian side of the equation. The decision making powers have been outside the country and the people here have been implementing decisions made elsewhere. Frankly that hasn't been very fair on any of the players involved. What we now have is Jerry Bremer, the American ambassador, who has been appointed the civilian provisional authority. He has taken on that role from General Franks. We have more decision- making capability inside the country. Jay Garner is still here and is still involved.

PAXMAN:
It's been pretty shambolic so far, hasn't it? You are given warning the museums might be looted, you do nothing and the museums are looted. There is a shortage of clean water, electricity. It's taken five weeks to warn looters they might be shot. I'm amazed there is anything left worth looting there. This is hardly a recipe for nation building.

SAWERS:
What you are doing, with good reason, is focusing on problems in Baghdad. Let's put it in proportion. In major cities like Mosul and in Basra and sensitive places like Kirkuk, or places of religious value like Najaf and Karbala, the situation is quite close to getting back to normal. The situation around the country is not too bad. The problem is here in the capital and I agree that we had hoped to be further forward. There are a number of reasons here. The civilian and military effort hasn't been as well co-ordinated as it might have been. That is now being addressed with Bremer's arrival. We also perhaps underestimated how much bigger and more complex and difficult Baghdad was going to be than anywhere else. You could say that was a mistake, but it's one which we are now addressing and putting right.

PAXMAN:
Isn't the truth of the matter that the Americans are all very gung ho when it comes to firing off their wonderful ordnance, but when it comes to nation building or reconstruction they're absolutely useless?

SAWERS:
If you went to Mosul, you wouldn't say that, Jeremy. In Mosul you have the 101st Armoured Division on the streets patrolling with a local police force, a really very complex, ethnically mixed city. There's a great American success in Mosul.

PAXMAN:
You have just claimed the problem isn't in Mosul, but in Baghdad.

SAWERS:
I'm saying the problem is primarily in Baghdad and the rest of the country is getting better. The capital is particularly difficult. I take nothing away from the 3rd Infantry Division. They fought a fantastic war and they are actually quite exhausted and ready to go home. I know there are new troops coming through and there is an effort under way to reconfigure how those American troops in the capital can be put to better use to restore the security, to support the police and get normal life going again.

PAXMAN:
Wouldn't it just be better to hand the job over to the UN?

SAWERS:
I'm not sure the UN wants to take on the job. I've heard Kofi Annan say that administering Iraq is not a task for the United Nations. What we do want, and as we put forward in the Security Council, we want the UN to play the vital role that President Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair have talked about. Jerry Bremer and I were at the UN today, talking to the humanitarian co-ordinator. He was saying how much easier his work on the humanitarian side would be if this resolution went through. We are trying to accelerate that. That would make the UN a partner of the coalition on the ground.

PAXMAN:
You can think of no better nation with whom to undertake the task of reconstructing Iraq than America?

SAWERS:
Those are your words, not mine. The United States and Britain and Australia and Poland and other countries have taken on the responsibility of implementing Security Council resolutions, and there is an increasing number of countries coming here. I've seen Japanese and Koreans and Spaniards and others. Some 20 embassies are set up here. The United Nations want to come back in. It is going to be a truly international effort. That is another reason why we want to get the Security Council resolution passed as soon as possible.

PAXMAN:
John Sawers, thank you.

This transcript was produced from the teletext subtitles that are generated live for Newsnight. It has been checked against the programme as broadcast, however Newsnight can accept no responsibility for any factual inaccuracies. We will be happy to correct serious errors.