Question: What does US want after Saddam?

Whether you are worried, angry or confused, there are thousands of questions surrounding the Iraq crisis. The Iraq Questions Panel is trying to give you some answers.

QUESTION

From Gary Johnson
I haven't heard anybody say what they intend to do after removing Saddam. Do you think the white house has any real strategy post-war?

ANSWER
From Nick Bryant, BBC Washington correspondent
Rattled by criticisms that all it cares about is toppling the Iraqi dictator, the Bush administration has been trying to demonstrate it is doing some intellectual heavy-lifting about a post-Saddam world.

Its first idea was to model a post-war Iraq on post-war Japan: a military occupation with General Tommy Franks, the main architect of the Iraq war plan, wielding the same kind of untrammelled power as General Douglas MacArthur, the hero of the America's Pacific campaign, who took charge in Tokyo.

That smacked of American imperialism, especially to critics in the Arab and Muslim world. So the Bush administration has come up with a "Plan B".

Under it, there would be two vital centres of power: a civilian leader, possibly appointed by the United Nations, who would oversee Iraq's economic development and democratisation; and a military ruler, responsible for security.

The precise demarcation of responsibilities has yet to be worked out. And it also unclear when this international administration would hand over to a new Iraqi leadership. But the Pentagon is planning for an eighteen-month military occupation.

For the time being, at least, the White House appears to have ruled out the possibility of a provisional government, drawn together from Iraqi opposition groups.

---

If you've got a question for the Iraq Panel about the crisis, submit it by clicking here.