"Early Steps, Maybe, Toward a Democracy in Iraq," by Ian Fisher, New York Times, 27 July, p. A1.

"U.S. Seeks to Provide More Jobs and Speed Rebuilding in Iraq: A focus on large projects has been criticized as wasteful," by Erik Eckholm, New York Times, 27 July, p. A7.

As Allawi the interim prime minister continues his efforts at establishing stability across Iraq in the face of a fierce, multiheaded insurgency, quiet but widespread efforts continue toward a legislative branch. Right now there are political caucuses convening all over Iraq to pick upwards of 1,000 delegates to a national convention next week in Baghdad. That convention is designed to select a smaller, 100-seat council that will play watchdog to Allawi's government until the full national elections are held in Januaryóat least that's the plan. If the elections get delayed, this council could be a little bit more than "interim."

Of course, the caucuses are so much more than a delegate-picking scheme, they are the first real chance for organized political dialogue on a local level. Yes, many hardcore groups refuse to participate, but Allawi's government pushes ahead and it is right to do so. Waiting for everyone to get happy isn't democracy, but a recipe for political paralysis. Plus, since the process is so new for Iraqis, better to let them get through these sloppy first attempts prior to instituting a permanent constitution, slated for voting in late 2005.

Plenty of groups that refused to participate in Allawi's government are at least participating in this process, and that's a positive sign.

A long journey, no doubt, but these are positive first steps. That positive, small victories approach is how we should have approached the rebuilding process in Iraq, but typical of the Pentagon, we planned big, hugely expensive projects.

Rick Barton, an expert on such reconstructions at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in DC (and host to my talk there last month) puts it simply:

The projects have been way too large. Building large infrastructure is not usually what you do first in a post-conflict society. You need to get things going in the right direction, and the process will pick up speed later on. If you try to build pyramids in the beginning, it will suck up all the money.

Plus, going the "big contract, big contract" route means the funding goes primarily to large multinational corporations, leaving local Iraqis with little sense of ownership.

If keeping it small but beautiful makes sense politically, then it should make sense economically too.