What is it like in Iraq?

[Occhidiangela]

I could agree more on this score

That having been said, I also believe that the alternative that has been put forth –- the process of selection and caucusing –- has to be inclusive and transparent and be seen as fair by Iraqis -– and for the Iraqis to feel it is a process they have ownership over.  I think if that is done, the outcome will be accepted and it will be credible within Iraq, in the region and beyond.  So, I consider it a viable alternative, but it has to be handled carefully.

Question:  Will it be done by 1 July?

The Secretary-General:  You mean the selection process?  I think that could be done:  the selections.  Actual full-fledged elections are not possible to be done by June.  But the other process, properly handled, is possible.

The setting of that extremely optimistic deadline has defined US/UN/Electins Council action via failure criterion. Setting the deadline was a trap, driven perhaps by internal US political issues, perhaps driven by things off stage between various parties discussing things behind closed doors. Don't know. If the former is the case, it is a strategic mistake, as it hands, giftwrapped, victory criterion to the anarchists in Iraq. That's how I see it.

Question:  Critics of the United Nations are quick to cite bodies like the Commission on Human Rights and the fact that the past year it was chaired by Libya and it did not have a stellar record.  Some human rights activists have called for some sort of criteria for countries to join the Commission on Human Rights.  How do you feel about that type of proposal?

Worthy qyestion, of course, but Kofi is, at best, a facilitator, which is a hard job.

The questions he got asked, Kashmir and Liberia aside, were softballs compared to what American Presidents and British PM's tend to get asked, in my view.