The Big Bang was never about making America saferóexcept in the long run

■"Poll Finds Dimmer View of Iraq War: 52% Say U.S. Has Not Become Safer," by Dana Milbank and Claudia Deane, Washington Post, 8 June 2005, p. A1.

■"Assault on Women at Protest Stirs Anger, Not Fear, in Egypt," by Michael Slackman, New York Times, 10 June 2005, p. A1.

This is the backlash you get when you see a basic police action (arrest the offender) sold as a us-versus-them war. It was never us versus them in Iraq, but the global community versus a mass-murdering tyrant. How we got rid of him is less important than how we improve the Core's processóbased on the experience we regain in Iraqófor removing from power political tyrants in the Gap and rehabbing their country systematically.

There are a host of powerful political movements for reform that have sprung up in the region thanks to the Big Bang. The key choices we make today are all about how we keep that ball rolling and disarming any potential veto-wielding players in the gameólike Iran.