The war in Iraq is now in full swing, for better or worse, and whatever we think about the wisdom of making war in the first place, we can all agree that it will take enormous resources – financial, physical and political – to help Iraq recover and take its rightful place in the global economy and polity.

It seems enormously important that the reconstruction be seen to be as multilateral and broadly-based as possible, involving many countries and all kinds of non-governmental organizations. The U.S. has made no friends and many enemies in prosecuting this war, because much of the world sees it as an unprovoked and imperialist move to control a strategically important and resource-rich part of the world.

If the U.S. wants to live up to its word and free the Iraqis in fact as well as in name, it will make its occupation of that country as brief and unobtrusive as possible. It will join the international community in supporting the move toward free and fair elections, even if those tend toward an Islamic state. It will support an economic order that privileges Iraqi interests over Western ones, and it will welcome the involvement of other Arab nations in the rebuilding of this ancient, complex and devastated region.

As citizens we need to be extremely watchful that “freedom” is not simply a cover for American economic domination.

Mary Hunter, Lewiston