By Judy Aita
Washington File United Nations Correspondent

New York -- Outlining a U.S. initiative called the "Future of Iraq Project," a senior U.S. official February 12 said that rebuilding Iraq's infrastructure and protecting Iraq's oil supplies will be an immediate priority in any post-Saddam Hussein reconstruction effort.

In a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations, Stephen Hadley, deputy national security advisor, said that President Bush has not made a final decision whether or when to use military force to disarm Iraq, but extensive planning has begun on how to assist Iraq should military action be taken.

Hadley described the principles guiding the U.S. government's contingency planning for the complex, post-war problems and challenges facing the international community. A joint effort of U.S. officials, representatives of private agencies, and free Iraqis, the planning process has identified five principles and a number of specific tasks that will have to be undertaken. Some are similar to those helping Afghans rebuild their country.

While he did not estimate costs or the duration of the reconstruction effort, Hadley did say that America is prepared to stay in Iraq "as long as is necessary, but not one day more."

If war comes, Hadley said, "it will be a war of liberation, not occupation." The United States needs the support of Iraq's people and it "will work to win that support," he stressed.

First, he said, the U.S. and the international community will have to ensure the rapid flow of humanitarian relief and the quick start of economic reconstruction efforts, including restoring electricity and providing clean water and medical care.

"A critical part of the reconstruction effort will be ensuring that Iraq's oil sector is protected from acts of sabotage by Saddam Hussein's regime and that its proceeds are applied for the benefit of the Iraqi people," he said.

"Iraq's oil and other natural resources belong to all the Iraqi people -- and the United States will respect this fact," Hadley said.

The United States would not dictate the precise nature of the government. That will be decided by the people of Iraq, Hadley also said. "But no one should be interested in simply replacing one dictator with another."

"The goal -- which we are confident we share with Iraq's people -- is an Iraq that is whole, free, and at peace with itself and its neighbors," a democracy in which all religions, ethnic communities, and individual rights are protected, he said.

While most senior Iraqi officials "will be called to account for their complicity in Saddam's reign of terror," Hadley said, many current government officials, military officers, and scientists who are not involved in the regime's crimes will be able to contribute their talent and experience to rebuilding the country.

Hadley sketched out rough plans for an "Iraqi National Council" to advise U.S. and coalition authorities, a "judicial council" to revise Iraq's legal structure, and a "constitutional commission" to draft a new constitution. He mentioned providing help to create a modern system of taxation and budgeting, to stabilize the dinar, and to resolve debt and reparation obligations.

Hadley said that detailed planning is "well under way" to undertake the complex, dangerous, and expensive task of ridding Iraq of all nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, production capabilities, and delivery systems.

Iraq's terrorist infrastructure must also be eliminated and the U.S. and its coalition allies must provide security to prevent chaos, score-settling and bloodletting, Hadley said.

"Iraq must be preserved as a unified state, with its territorial integrity intact. Concern for the safety of Iraq's people will begin not on the day hostilities cease, but on the day they begin," he said.