Spain's decision to withdraw its troops from Iraq in the "shortest possible time" is a shock to the coalition led by the United States occupying that country without an explicit United Nations mandate. The coalition can no longer run Iraq on its own.
Last week President Bush signalled he is ready to pass control of a transitional government there to the UN from June 30th. But the Spanish prime minister, Mr José Rodríguez Zapatero, said this is not sufficient to ensure Spanish troops come under UN control by that date.
By making his announcement on the day he and his cabinet took their oath of office Mr Zapatero has injected a welcome decisiveness into the vague and ill-defined international debate on Iraq's future. There has been a too easy assumption that the US will continue to run its military and economic affairs after a formal transfer of political power. Plans by the UN special envoy, Mr Lakhdar Brahimi, for appointing a transitional Iraqi government have yet to be fleshed out in detail. It is quite unclear who will select the new rulers and lay down a timetable for political sovereignty to be restored to Iraqis. Yesterday's announcement that Mr John Negroponte is to be the new US ambassador to Iraq, heading a 3,000 strong US embassy in Baghdad, underlines the difficulties involved for those who support a stronger UN role there.
Mr Zapatero has also fulfilled a democratic undertaking given repeatedly to his political constituency in Spain. Those who say his announcement represents an objective victory for terrorist movements following the March 11th al-Qaeda attacks on Madrid fail to understand the democratic imperative which drove Spaniards to vote for his party in protest against the previous government's decisions to support the war and send troops to Iraq. Polls show 90 per cent of the electorate opposed them. Mr Zapatero's decision is in keeping with his commitment to confront terrorism "within the framework of international legality" and in a politically engaged fashion rather than by purely military means.
There were several signs yesterday that the Spanish decision could affect other states involved militarily in Iraq. Poland could decide to foreshorten its involvement, and a number of central American states involved with the Spanish-speaking group indicated they may withdraw. The Spanish troops are involved in the southern town of Najav where the greatest confrontation is threatened between US troops and the Shia rebel cleric, Moqtada al-Sadr. Recent misjudgments by the US occupation authorities about how to deal with him have influenced Mr Zapatero.
His announcement will have added value if it stimulates a much more vigorous international debate on how Iraq should be governed and secured after the formal transfer of sovereignty on June 30th. There is still time to ensure this is done under much more comprehensive UN auspices, with a much more clearcut commitment to Iraqi control than has so far been envisaged.