Old Europe fights back, seeks to make "new" Iraq partner in planning talks

Seems like a good idea to me.

http://www.tnr.com/blog/iraqd

UNRESOLVED, CONT'D II: In a sign that the United Nations Security Council negotiations over a new Iraq resolution are growing more bare-knuckle, the French, Germans, Russians, and Chinese have introduced a new gambit : bringing the interim Iraqi leaders into the discussions. The move is clearly designed to hobble the United States. If the untested, unelected Iraqi interim administrators were included in determining the contours of their nation's sovereignty, they would have every incentive to attempt to cleave Iraq from the U.S. as much as possible. They would have the chance to gain unique legitimacy outside the ballot box as the figures who, before the entire world, arm-wrestled a superpower to end its occupation. The Iraqis would also have to fight to win, since, conversely, an Iraqi leadership that proves itself impotent--or blesses the U.S. plans--would humiliate the country on the world stage and would surely return home to face an angry, contemptuous population. (Given the current state of Iraqi politics, that might even be fatal.) In concrete terms, the Iraqis would probably be pushing against the U.S. on the issues of whether they would have veto power over U.S. military operations; whether they would overturn Bremer and possess operational control over the Iraqi security forces; and potentially whether to set an end date for the U.S. presence in Iraq.