And now the true test.

From a policy perspective at least, this was the hors d’ouvre. The matinee with three buses of school children when the full house and the critics are due for the 9 o’clock.

The situation now faced by American state builders in Iraq has met the ire of punditry the world over. And this time the voices are more resounding than just those who decried the war before it began. Many still have yet to acknowledge the swift and decisive military victory, and their chorus is emboldened by cries for WMD faster than a BLT from a short-order cook. And they wanted to give Hans Blix a year and a half!

Even the traditional talking heads of the right, those who stood ardently behind “Act One” in Iraq, now show trepidation.

George Will wrote recently that all Iraq needs to successfully rebuild is four men. Unfortunately, he said, those men are “George Washington, John Marshall, James Madison and John Adams.”

Iraq might well have those men; there is no need to underestimate them in history’s hour. Their own pageant is about to begin, but sans the relative luxury faced by Washington and his founding brothers.

A common culture, descended from a similar source, a common language, established state entities defined by undisputed borders for over a century, boundless natural resources and an ocean that was still as big as, well, an ocean. Hatched at the peak of the Enlightenment, as Locke was articulating the foundations of liberal political systems existing at the behest of the governed and the Declaration of the Rights of Man was fomenting across the channel. These concepts never found their way to the Middle East, but now appears their chance to take root.

This, quite evidently, is no small task.

And even now, the American military juggernaut that just finished defying all historical convention must now pursue a nimble statecraft for which it has shown little willingness. Historically, American foreign policy is its most effective at two extremes: watching from the sidelines (Monroe through Roosevelt) or swinging the hammer (Roosevelt, Truman). And we’ve found success at least brandishing it menacingly (Kennedy and Cuba, Reagan and the Wall). Absolute proficiency in manipulating the lights or staging the encore has proven elusive (Wilson and the League, Johnson and Tet). But we sure as hell can tear down the set.

That same military juggernaut is now forced to hold down the fort in two ravaged and stability-starved Middle East nations — Afghanistan and Iraq — so ravaged by internal dissent and factionalism that a sovereign government respectful of civil liberties and the rule of law seems generations away. The U.S. military may be able to wipe away dictatorships in a matter of weeks, but that doesn’t mean the vast majority of the populace woke up and smelled the cultural tidal wave. In an age where grips of iron are broken like glass, now the pieces shatter all the more disparate.

And so the unsavory tasks and uncertain outcomes abound, with North Korea looming in the background.

* * * * * *

Reuters reported the following Wednesday: “Hundreds of thousands of Shi’ite Muslims swarmed on the Iraqi holy city of Najaf today to mark the death of the Prophet Mohammad, freely making the pilgrimage for the first time in decades. The pilgrimage to the tomb of Imam Ali, the son-in-law and cousin of Prophet Mohammad, was the second show of Shi’ite might in a week and highlighted the country’s newfound religious freedom since the fall of Saddam Hussein. Crowds of men, wearing headbands proclaiming loyalty to Imam Ali and his son Imam Hussein, slapped their chests and chanted. One man climbed on the shoulders of his companions, gesturing to worshippers in the streets to follow him in prayers.”

I’m reminded of the old Reagan speech, where he cited a letter he received in 1980 from a sailor serving in the seas of Southeast Asia. The sailor’s name was John Mooney of the aircraft carrier Midway. He wrote the following in a letter home, which somehow made its way to the president’s desk:

“As they approached the ship, they were all waving and trying as best they could to say, ‘Hello, America Sailor! Hello, Freedom Man!’ It’s hard to see a boat full of people like that and not get a lump somewhere between chin and bellybutton. And it really makes one proud and glad to be an American. People were waving and shouting and choking down lumps and trying not to let other brave men see their wet eyes.”

Sounds appropriate now, sounds a bit like Najaf.

And it sounds like they think it might even be worth the trouble. And the faith.

Eric B. Cullen ([email protected]) is a sophomore majoring in political science and history.