UN rifts over Iraq remain deep

By Greg Barrow BBC UN correspondent in New York

At the entrance of the United Nations Secretariat building in New York, a condolence book lies open. Beside it is a photograph of Sergio Vieira de Mello.

In August Iraqi guerrillas turned on the UN with devastating effect

Inside the book are messages from UN staff, many of whom worked with the former special representative to Iraq, who was killed in the bomb explosion at UN headquarters last month.

On a wall nearby are photographs of all 22 men and women who died in the attack.

The aftermath of the violent attacks in Baghdad is hanging like a dark pall over this year's gathering of the UN General Assembly.

The rifts that opened between the pro and the anti-war camp in the run up to the invasion of Iraq in March, are barely healed, and the failure of the occupying powers to uncover real evidence of Iraq's possession of weapons of mass destruction has leant weight to the argument that military intervention was both illegal and unjustified.

'Legitimacy'

Earlier this month UN Secretary General Kofi Annan published a report on the progress made in the implementation of the goals the international community set itself at the turn of the new millennium.

The big powers stand shoulder to shoulder for cameras only

As well as addressing issues such as health, education and the eradication of poverty, the report provided him an opportunity to look back on a traumatic 12 months for the UN.

"The war exposed deep divisions in the international community, with accusations of double agendas," Mr Annan wrote.

What upset UN officials most, was the decision by Washington and London to go to war in Iraq without the backing of a UN Security Council resolution.

"The great strength of the United Nations remains its legitimacy, founded on the bedrock principles of international law accepted by all states and expressed in the decisions of an organisation which represents the entire international community," Mr Annan wrote.

"In the international arena there is no substitute for such legitimacy."

No fault

Unfortunately, the Bush administration has yet to be convinced by these arguments.

[Mr Bush] has recognised that the occupation is experiencing difficulties, but he's publicly displayed no interest in adjusting the strategy David Malone International Peace Academy

If, in the light of the difficulties the world's superpower is now facing in Iraq, member states are expecting a more conciliatory approach this year, they may be sorely disappointed.

Last year, in the run up to war against Iraq, President Bush warned the General Assembly that the UN had to rise to the challenge of dealing with Iraq, or risk irrelevance.

According to the New York Times, Mr Bush is expected to give little ground and admit no errors of judgment about the US occupation of Iraq.

Although keen to win more international support to carry the burden of reconstruction and security in Iraq, officials who spoke to the newspaper say President Bush will offer little in the way of concessions to nations like France, who have been calling on Washington to speed up the transfer of sovereignty to Iraqis.

Long-term commitment?

It is an approach that seems unlikely to win over a sceptical audience.

"So far, the president has called on allies to provide cash and cannon fodder," says David Malone, of the UN think-tank the International Peace Academy.

"He has reluctantly recognised that the occupation is experiencing difficulties, but so far, he's publicly displayed no interest in adjusting the strategy."

The problem is that as much as the UN would like to be playing a more central role in Iraq, the world body recognizes that it needs to keep the United States engaged in the task of nation-building.

"There's a deep-rooted fear that's largely undiscussed, that the Americans will cut and run at some point, as they have done in one or two other situations," says Mr Malone.

"That would leave a chaotic Iraq, and far from democracy radiating out of Iraq, as the neo-conservatives had us believe, we could have chaos spiralling out of Iraq."