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| Thursday, 1 July 2004 |
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Iraq remains on treacherous path after handover WASHINGTON, Wednesday (Reuters) The U.S. administration's low key handover of power in Iraq, said by President George W. Bush to usher in a new reign of freedom, leaves the Arab nation on a treacherous path to stability, U.S. experts said. As Prime Minister Iyad Allawi mulled the possibility of martial law, experts said the new interim government in Baghdad may have to defy U.S. authorities on key security issues to establish credibility among ordinary Iraqis. The violence that has racked the country in the last year could also worsen further as insurgents try to drive a wedge between the Bush administration and the country's new leaders over hot spots such as Falluja.Brent Scowcroft, who was national security adviser to President Gerald Ford and to Bush's father, George H.W. Bush, said that was one of two ways in which things could get worse in the country. The other was a possible power struggle. "You may find an increase in violence among the factions as they jockey for power," the retired Army general said. The Bush administration put a celebratory face on Tuesday's handover of power, which formally ended 14 months of U.S.-led occupation in a modest ceremony that was moved up by two days partly to foil possible guerrilla attacks. Bush followed up the transition by renewing his call for countries across the Middle East to embrace democratic reforms. He had said ousting President Saddam Hussein was aimed at making the whole region more peaceful and more democratic. Critics, however, said his Iraq policy was a diplomatic failure that tarnished U.S. relations with long-standing allies and stirred anti-American anger in the Muslim world. They said it could still result in civil war. |
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