U.S. to Seek New U.N. Resolution, More International Troops in Iraq

Powell said the United States hopes that “with this additional demonstration of the will of the international community, it will encourage more countries, or make it easier for some countries who are looking at the prospects now, to make such a contribution.”

“The U.S. will remain the commander of the unified command” of the multinational force envisaged by the draft resolution, which also calls on the Iraqi Governing Council to submit a timetable for holding elections and eventually restoring sovereignty to Iraq, Powell told reporters at a hastily arranged press conference.

The postwar operation is costing the United States about $3.9 billion a month, and has strained the American military, which has some 140,000 troops stationed there. The Bush administration has struggled to attract broader international participation, and sees the new U.N. resolution as the way to make other nations more comfortable contributing militarily and financially.

Powell said he had already been in touch with British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and foreign ministers Igor Ivanov of Russia, Joschka Fischer of Germany and Dominique de Villepin of France.

“The initial reaction so far is positive,” Powell said.

U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte in New York Wednesday began two days of talks on the outline of the proposed U.N. resolution, according to the Associated Press. Until recently, Washington appeared to have ruled out any bid for a new Security Council resolution.

President Bush is scheduled to speak to the U.N. General Assembly later in September.

The president confirmed that he wants a larger U.N. role in Iraq when he spoke to the prime minister of the Netherlands Wednesday.

Powell and other U.S. officials had previously contended that a Security Council resolution adopted in May was sufficient to get other countries to send more troops.

That measure encouraged countries to help the American-led coalition rebuild Iraq, including contributions to “stability and security.”

A study by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office released Tuesday may be contributing to pressure on the White House to expand the role other countries play in Iraqi reconstruction. The report said U.S. military operations in Iraq could cost an estimated $8 billion to $29 billion a year, with the least expensive option entailing a significant reduction in U.S. troops in and around Iraq.

Douglas Holtz-Eakin, director of the Congressional Budget Office, was scheduled to testify Wednesday before the Senate Budget Committee and could face questions on his report.

The United States has about 140,000 troops in Iraq. That force is supported by about 21,000 others, 11,000 of them British.

One of the other countries with troops in Iraq is Poland, which Wednesday began to lead an international force that will control parts of south-central Iraq.

The car bomb explosion on Aug. 29 forced the United States to postpone the handover of the city of Najaf, which was supposed to be one of the regions transferred to the Polish-led force. The city reportedly will remain under U.S. control for at least two more weeks.

With a ceremony at its headquarters near the ancient city of Babylon, the Polish-led force from 17 nations formally took up security duties over a 31,000-square mile belt of Iraq south of Baghdad.

“It’s indeed a historic moment. It’s a moment where the international community has stepped up and turned a nine-nation coalition into a 30-nation coalition which sends an unmistakable message,” the top U.S. commander Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez told troops from the participating countries, ranging from Latvia to Mongolia.