With furtive haste, former Coalition Provisional Authority administrator Paul Bremer declared the end of the US occupation at a virtually secret ceremony and bolted for the door, enclosed in the same bubble of isolated arrogance in which he arrived. The surprise event was calculated to avoid disruption by insurgents, whose armed campaign rages unchecked. News stories mentioned the Iraqi flag snapping in the breeze, but there was nothing about lowering the US flag. Far from ending, the occupation has merely entered a new phase.

Bremer left behind an "interim" government: a US-run operation with an Iraqi face, 140,000 US troops, $15 billion of withheld reconstruction funds with which the new US ambassador can quietly rule from the Green Zone, and a basket of edicts.

The interim government represents a step toward Iraqi self-rule. But can a body with such limited power lead the transition to free and fair elections? Will it? Can it improve the welfare of Iraqis in need of the basics of life while it countenances an occupying force that continues to provoke a violent response?

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