At 11 am (EST), Vice President Joe Biden will preside over a Security Council meeting on Iraq. He will have a very packed schedule. After issueing a presidential statement which re-affirms the entire council’s support for Iraq’s political process, Biden will lead a discussion over three separate Security Council resolutions, each of which will likely be passed by the end of the two hour meeting.
According to a senior administration official, the first resolution on the table today will lift restrictions on Iraq’s civilian nuclear programs which were imposed during the first Gulf War in the early 1990s. The resolution will cite Iraq’s cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency and will revoke restrictions imposed by resolution 687 (1991) and 707 (1992).
The second resolution on the table will terminate the so-called “Development Fund for Iraq program,” which was a mechanism created after the U.S. led invasion of Iraq in 2003 to accumulate all proceeds from Iraq’s oil exports into one single fund to support Iraq’s economic development. According to the same senior administration official, this program can be terminated because of progress made on an Iraqi managed successor to this fund.
The third Security Council resolution will terminate the residual activities of the Oil for Food Program. (Remember that!?) Apparently, there is still about $650 million sitting in that account, which will be turned over to the Iraqi government.
As of last night, the first two resolutions were “in blue” meaning that a final text had been agreed to and was simply awaiting the formal vote. There was still some discussion on the Oil for Food resolution. I would image that all three would be ready for a vote by the time Biden bangs the president’s gavel to start the meeting. Which, by the way, you can watch live on UN Webcast.