Washington’s decision to seek greater UN involvement in Iraq has been seized on with glee by its detractors. They say that President Bush has been forced to admit he has bitten off more than he can chew and has had to go cap in hand to the UN asking for help.

Those who see things that way are wrong. What is important is not America’s dignity but Iraq’s future — its peace, its prosperity, its stability, an end to terrorism there. If the US wanted to hand the baton to the UN then that would be reason to congratulate it.

But is this really a climb down? Certainly, there is an element of it. Before the invasion Bush notably said that the UN was in danger of making itself irrelevant. Evidently he has changed his mind — for sound political reasons. The security situation in Iraq is deteriorating, and there is no chance of terrorists ending their murderous campaign of destabilization; there will be more bombs. If the security situation is to be turned round, more troops are needed on the ground.

But US domestic politics will not permit them to be American. It is not just the cost in terms of the soldiers being killed; there are plans to limit to one year the time military personnel can serve outside the US at a go. There are currently some 140,000 US troops in Iraq; if the bill becomes law, the number will have to be reduced to just over 100,000. There is more: Congress’ budget office estimates that even 70,000 US troops in Iraq — half the present number — are too many if threats elsewhere in the world are to be met. Even maintaining forces at their present inadequate level will therefore require at least 70,000 to be found from elsewhere.

That and money for Iraq’s reconstruction are what Washington’s offer to the UN is all about. It wants to spread the burden. But — and that is the rub — the Americans are not offering to hand over political control to the UN. Washington remains determined to stay and oversee Iraq’s reconstruction as a pro-Western, democratic state.

That gives the lie to all the talk about a climb down. There has been no such thing, merely a pretence that something new is being offered. Countries such as Russia and France are for the moment joining in the pretence, saying that they will work on the wording of Washington’s proposal and that they may even send troops. But the diplomatic dance will not last long unless Bush is prepared to genuinely climb down. Political control is the sticking point for the Russians and French.

A major battle is shaping up behind closed doors at the UN. It could be every bit as bruising and bitter as the pre-invasion debacle there.