Terror UNleashed

Terrorism most often follows a strategy of indirect impact. And the brutal attack on the UN headquarters which killed at least 20 on Monday,...

Terrorism most often follows a strategy of indirect impact. And the brutal attack on the UN headquarters which killed at least 20 on Monday, including the UN Special Representative in Iraq, was no doubt meant to pressurise the international community into getting it to persuade the United States to re-structure its Iraq policy.

The attack will certainly force the UN to rethink its role in Iraq. Coming as it does after the bombing of Jordanian embassy in Baghdad, it also means that the prospects of developing countries sharing the burden of peace-keeping in Iraq become even more distant and complicated.

Reports have been emerging from Iraq about the rising anger against the US and of jihadis flocking to Iraq from other countries to fight the sole superpower in a replay of the jihad two decades ago in Afghanistan. America8217;s unwillingness to accept a greater, leave alone dominant, role for the UN 8212; which would have provided it the legitimacy needed to rebuild the country8217;s institutions 8212; seems to have been a major mistake.

The US and its forces have been facing daily attacks; but this is the first major attack on the UN in Iraq. It8217;s possible that the UN mission was targeted because the UN had legitimised the war by authorising the US as the occupying force and had shown approval for the interim council handpicked by the US to rule Iraq.

It is apparent that the magnitude of Tuesday8217;s attack requires serious introspection. The security of UN humanitarian assistance programmes in turbulent countries racked by internal armed conflict and the virtual dissolution of governance has almost always led to the deeper involvement of the international community in the internal peace enforcing role, often with uncertain results. To that extent, greater security for UN and aid agencies in Iraq would become necessary. But that by itself is unlikely to produce a more conducive environment to pursue stabilisation and reconstruction.

Calling it a day and going home, as happened in Somalia, would make things worse. What may be necessary is a more fundamental paradigm shift on the part of the world community in its response to Iraq, the crafting of which may be its biggest challenge yet.