British Prime Minister Tony Blair appealed on Friday for more international support for Iraq and urged quick reform of world bodies such as the United Nations, World Bank and IMF to tackle future crises like Iraq.
Many nations, including Germany and France, opposed the invasion of Iraq, and Blair said it was time not only for reconciliation in Baghdad but in the international community.
"The war, I know, split the world. The struggle of Iraqis for democracy should unite it," said Blair in a foreign policy speech at Georgetown University.
Britain was Washington's biggest ally in the March 2003 invasion, and both Blair and US President George W. Bush's poll numbers have tumbled domestically as the death toll among coalition soldiers and Iraqis has soared.
The weapons of mass destruction used to justify the March 2003 invasion of Iraq have never been found and the war has been widely criticised in the international community.
With tens of billions of dollars spent in Iraq and the reconstruction promised to Iraqis faltering, both nations are hoping other countries will put past differences over the invasion behind them and start sharing the load in Iraq.
"I don't want to repeat or to reopen past arguments. I want to advocate a new concord to displace the old contention," said Blair, who visited Baghdad this week to meet the new government.
Blair said nations may not agree with the original decision to invade Iraq, be critical of mistakes made by the coalition or wonder if it was all worth the sacrifice.
"But surely we must all accept this is a genuine attempt to run the race of liberty," said Blair.
Both nations are under pressure to pull out their troops but Bush and Blair made clear in a news conference on Thursday night that the time was not yet right. The two leaders are set to meet later on Friday before Blair ends his two-day visit.
The British prime minister, who is seen as more popular in the United States than at home, echoed Bush's view that the international community must see the struggle for security in Iraq as part of a wider global struggle against terrorism.
UN REFORM He also used his speech, the third in a series on foreign policy, to call for reform at world bodies such as the United Nations, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
"The danger of leaving things as they are, is ad hoc coalitions for action that stir massive controversy about legitimacy or paralysis in the face of crisis," said Blair.
He called for reform in the UN Security Council, where France and Britain were permanent members but not Germany and Japan, while Latin America and Africa had no proper representation.
He said the UN secretary general needed new powers and humanitarian and development operations streamlined, adding there was even a case for having one humanitarian agency that could better predict an impending crisis.
The UN chief should have greater power to propose action to the Security Council for resolution of longstanding disputes, Blair said.
He also called for the reform of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund and said there was a case for merging the two bodies.
His speech briefly touched on Iran, which is at loggerheads with the United States, Germany, France, Britain and others over its nuclear program and the enrichment of uranium.
Blair said there was a strong argument for establishing a multilateral system for safe enrichment for nuclear energy overseen by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
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