Give Iraqi Leader Room

For more than a year, the U.S. story in Iraq has been “opportunities missed.” The Bush administration was late to understand that invading troops would be viewed as hostile occupiers, not liberators; late to confiscate weapons and break up cells of insurgents before they joined forces; and late to get the lights turned on and drinkable water flowing.

On Monday, the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority handed over power two days early. The action was smartly timed to lessen the opportunity for symbolic, targeted attacks, including more assassinations of the new government’s officials. The speedup, however, also was a reflection of the inability of Iraqi security forces and more than 130,000 U.S. troops to quell the carnage.

President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, at a heavily guarded NATO summit in tense Istanbul, Turkey, acknowledged the difficulties that the interim Iraqi government faces in trying to impose security and stability. Many NATO countries have small contingents of troops in Iraq, but two of the organization’s biggest members, France and Germany, continue to refuse to send soldiers. That recalcitrance makes NATO’s offer Monday to help train Iraqi security forces even more attractive. The more Iraqis trained, the better -- and the sooner, the better. Arab nations also could help by recognizing Iraq diplomatically and following Jordan’s example in training Iraqi security forces and offering aid. Too many have been reluctant to step forward because they view the new Baghdad government as Washington’s puppet, but Iraqi instability threatens Arab nations directly.

Iraq will not attain full sovereignty until its police and soldiers can guard borders, repel invaders and make citizens’ daily lives safer from crime and terror. It is uncertain when that will happen -- or if it will. Washington has handed control from the Pentagon to the State Department -- far too late, because the State Department long has had plans for the occupation that the Defense Department’s civilian leaders ignored. U.S. diplomats should use their clout, specifically the billions of dollars to be spent on reconstruction, to push the Kurds, Shiites and Sunnis to forge a government respectful of the rights of minorities.

The new rulers should learn from U.S. mistakes and know that windows of opportunity do not stay open long. Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi needs to show Iraqis he’s in charge. The challenge for the United States is to back off far enough for him to decide Iraq’s direction, even though Iraq can’t function without U.S. troops and money.