In the Balkans, the products of such civil administrations - the rule of law and developing economies - are pitifully absent. Instead, Bosnia and Kosovo have become net exporters of international crime. The civil administrations have excelled only in mediocrity.

As someone who has worn the blue beret and worked for the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus, the UN Protection Force and UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo, it saddens me that this is the case.

But not all of the UN is moribund. There is a role for the UN in Iraq as long as it is confined to the UN agencies. The World Food Programme, Unicef and UNHCR, for instance, are staffed by resourceful individuals who are task-orientated, have a history of delivery and can effectively lead the NGO response to the humanitarian challenges in Iraq. They alone should fly the blue flag.

As for the call for a Tokyo-style donor conference: why? This is not Afghanistan. In Iraq, reconstruction will be self-financing.

The oil resources can soon be converted into lucrative contracts and if an internationally assisted, Iraqi-led interim government places enough emphasis on local and regional companies winning the reconstruction contracts, this will facilitate recovery before a UN civil administration would even have passed its first ill-judged directive.