The tragic events of August 19, when the UN’s headquarters in Baghdad was attacked, may well force a change in the imperium’s indifference and the UN’s recent decline in confidence.
The death of UN staff members will not be the cause for such change, but it might be seen as a catalyst. Nor will the imperial power, the UN and a large proportion of its member states necessarily find easy accommodation in Iraq, but perhaps because of Iraq there may well be differences in the ways that each deals with the other in the future.
For the US, the Iraqi imbroglio has increasingly emphasised four apparent truths which many in this administration are beginning to recognise, albeit with varying degrees of enthusiasm. The first is that, no matter how determined Washington might be to confront its perceived terrorist threat, it cannot do so without an international community willing to be supportive beyond mere rhetoric.