United Nations ? The United States and Britain launched a campaign Thursday for U.N. approval to run Iraq for at least a year, acknowledging for the first time that they are the “occupying powers” in the country.

The long-awaited U.S. draft resolution, to be introduced at the U.N. Security Council today, outlines a U.S. vision for postwar Iraq sharply at odds with that of several Security Council members, particularly Russia.

It would limit the U.N. role, ending the world body’s control over Iraq’s oil revenue and letting the U.S.-led coalition use the country’s vast oil wealth to help finance its reconstruction — with international oversight.

The U.S. proposal, which was circulated Thursday and obtained by The Associated Press, calls for the immediate lifting of sanctions against Iraq and would phase out over a four-month period the oil-for-food humanitarian program, which has been feeding 90 percent of Iraq’s 24 million people. It does not mention any role for U.N. weapons inspectors, whose return to Iraq Washington opposes.

The resolution also would endorse the authority of the United States and Britain to govern Iraq.

The letter is the first time the United States has referred to its role in Iraq as an “occupying power,” a status governed by the Geneva Conventions that would entail wide-ranging responsibilities to look after the Iraqi people.

Under the proposal, the 12-month initial authorization would be automatically renewed unless the Security Council decided otherwise.