The fall of the Baath party in Basra and other southern towns was followed by chaos violence

The fall of the Baath party in Basra and other southern towns was followed by chaos, violence and looting. Baathist leaders were killed or simply vanished; there was no transfer or even seizure of power Harsh oppression gave way to disorder. More violence and looting attended the US advance through central Iraq, and has now spread to Baghdad.It is possible to view the breakdown of law and order, like the ransacking of party premises, as a necessary catharsis after a quarter-century of oppression. It may not be enough for Iraqis to see that their rulers have gone; they must experience the regime’s impotence by seizing, grabbing and destroying the instruments of their power. There was a reason why British troops initially left the looters alone, which may not only have reflected their reluctance or inability to engage in policing.But there comes a time when order must be restored. Without order, there can be no reliable distribution of even such basics as water and food.

This is why the re-establishment of civil order, along with the elementary provision of justice, is the absolute priority. This depends only partly on the British and American military authorities; it depends also on whether Iraqis feel they have a stake in their future and whether local leaders can be found to take over the levers of power on an interim basis, not for personal profit, but for common benefit.Without goodwill and restraint on all sides, there is a real risk that the country could descend into chaos. Iraq has no co-ordinated opposition waiting in the wings and equipped to take power. It has three main groups – the Sunnis, the Shia and the Kurds – along with multiple regional fiefdoms and rival ?gr?roups – all competing for authority and dominance once the old regime is completely finished. Conditions must be created in which the voices of all can be heard.The transition to a new civilian government – and its subsequent acceptance by the population – is complicated by the way in which the war began. The lack of an express mandate from the United Nations may not have hampered the Americans and the British in their resort to military action, but it certainly hampers the post-war settlement Their authority to run the country is questionable.

If Iraqis decided to treat them as occupiers rather than liberators, the legitimacy of even their temporary presence would be compromised.There can be arguments over the precise interpretation of recent UN resolutions. What cannot be disputed is that the US and British decision to mount their military campaign against the regime of Saddam Hussein without an unambiguous UN resolution makes the legal status of their action suspect. They violated one of the most fundamental principles of the international order – that of respect for national sovereignty. More than a decade ago, the people of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union liberated themselves. In Kosovo, an imminent human catastrophe justified outside intervention. Self-defence after 11 September, 2001, justified the US-led campaign in Afghanistan.

But there was no legal precedent for the invasion of Iraq.This is why – to cite President Bush and the Prime Minister at their meeting this week – the United Nations must play a “vital role” in Iraq’s reconstruction. The sooner UN approval for interim civil arrangements can be obtained, the more likely it is that the new order will be acceptable to Iraqis – and to the fractured international community.. Had it not been for events in Baghdad, we might have subjected Gordon Brown’s Budget speech to closer scrutiny and paid more attention to what he did not say; Mr Brown must hope he gets away with it while the world remains transfixed by the collapse of Saddam Hussein’s tyranny

New Labour has been unsentimental in its treatment of the rituals of British politics. Where they are useful, they have been co-opted as part of a unified presentational strategy, but they no longer have the pomp and substance which used to sustain them.