With American costs and casualties mounting in Iraq, the Bush administration is showing new interest in putting NATO in charge of the military occupation as a way of scaling back the U.S. troop commitment, U.S. and NATO officials say.
Such a change would discomfit some administration hard-liners, as it would force the United States to share decision-making on Iraq with European leaders who opposed the U.S.-led invasion, analysts said. It might also require seeking a mandate from the United Nations Security Council, which the United States failed to get before launching the war to topple Saddam Hussein.
But as the single most powerful nation in NATO, the United States would retain military command while spreading the burden and costs among a number of nations, thereby easing demands on overstretched American forces, diplomats said.
“There is interest” in turning the mission over to NATO, although not right away, a senior Bush administration official said yesterday. “I think the American public would be pleased to see NATO helping us in Iraq. … Americans believe in NATO and would consider it a plus to have NATO secure Iraq.”
We will see where this goes…