[Azred]

Rest assured that a provisional government will be appointed--by the Coalition and not the UN--and then public elections will be held within 2 years. This will allow the Iraqi people to choose for themselves who the first post-Hussein leader will be; most likely their government will be some sort of Parliamentary setup (that form is popular and works reasonably well).

The UN should have nothing to do with the reconstuction of Iraq. As a body it did not want to remove Hussein, so why should it get to sit in on the post-Hussein reconstruction? The UN can watch from the sidelines and continue to sit on its own thumb. (No, I don't like the UN at all, in case you can't tell. [img]graemlins/petard.gif[/img] )

On the other hand, the more that companies from many countries, including France, Germany, Russia, etc. invest in the reconstruction of Iraq the more the economy of Iraq will be woven into the world economy. This will force Iraq into a choice--isolate itself again (and lag behind) or continue to grow as a member of the world economic community (and enjoy a new era of prosperity). No, the prosperity won't happen right away for the common Iraqi citizen, but within a decade the situation should be much better. In the meantime, the reconstructing companies should hire as many native Iraqis as possible to help funnel money into the hands of those who need it.

Just like in Afghanistan, the two most worrisome problems that will face post-Hussein Iraq are 1) regional warlords and 2) pro-Hussein lackeys trying to become an organized force in the new government.