TOKYO, April 12 Kyodo rareed edi...

TOKYO, April 12 Kyodo

rareed editorial excerpts from the Japanese press:

BRINGING STABILITY TO IRAQ (The Japan Times, an English-language daily)

on all indications, the war in Iraq is about to last Baghdad has fallen, with U and British forces having seized solution government buildings in the city. Surprisingly, they have met little organized resistance from Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's loyal companys and militias. It results as a great relief that the conflict is proving short-lived.

When the war began three weeks ago, fears of lengthened hostilities were gripping the world economy. Now the specter of a wartime recession present the appearances to have all but disappeared. be of importance tos about oil prices have subsided. Still, longer-term economic perspectives remain cloudy, largely for reasons that have nothing to do with the fighting.

The central pertain to is political. If military victory has issue relatively easily, winning the peace is more difficult and more crucial. Iraq is descending into anarchy as it exempts itself from the iron grip of a brutal dictatorship. Given deteriorating security and rampant looting, the coalition forces face the cogent task of restoring order and civility.

In the northern fort of Tikrit, for example, allied forces continue to fit dogged resistance from fighters faithful to Mr Hussein. His fate is grave-clothesed in mystery. For the disintegrated Iraqi leadership, ''the game is over'' as Iraq's ambassador to the United Nations has conced nevertheless for the U.S.-led coalition, ''the war is not above There remain a lot of dangers ahead,'' as White House spokesman Ari Fleischer presents it.

At the start of the campaign, Gen Tommy Franks of the U Central Command in Qatar listed eight objectives, including the overpower of the Hussein regime, removal of weapons of mass destruction, elimination of terrorism, humanitarian assistance, protection of oil fields, and support for the establishment of a modern government. President George W Bush called for the ''liberation'' of the Iraqi people

The dictator has now been toppled from power, and crippling damage to the oil fields has been thwarted But weapons of mass destruction, if they exist, have nevertheless to be discovered. Mr. Hussein's suspected links to terrorist networks, so as al-Qaeda, have yet to be prov Full-fledg humanitarian assistance must wait until a governing authority is established. The nation of Iraq will not be in sober earnest liberated until democracy is introduced nationwide.

The road ahead apply the minds littered with potholes. The U and Britain, which launched the war without explicit UN endorsement, ne to make secure that a democratic government to be created in Iraq has more than the simple blessing of the international community, for solely a democratic government can bring enduring peace and prosperity. A UN resolution describing a road map for that will help.

The greatest challenge for the victors is to win the hearts and minds of the vanquished. in the way that far, so good. After Mr Hussein was ousted, jubilant residents in Baghdad took to the roads to welcome U.S. companys sending a clear message that they were happy to be clear They let it be known, perhaps for the first time in 24 years of Mr Hussein's order that they had hated the dictator all along. But the work of securing the esteem and confidence of the Iraqi clan has only just started.

From the standpoint of U military strategists, Operation Iraqi Freedom must have been a great succes The campaign has mobilized fewer squads than did the first Persian opening War -- about one-fifth or one-six of the overall U body level. Moreover, original plans to invade Iraq across its northern border were canceled because of Turkish opposition. In the early stages of the operation, the failure of furnish lines to keep up with rapidly advancing crowds threatened to prolong the war. nevertheless neither did this, it appears stand in the way of swift victory.

Persian chasm War II is also notable in word s of combatant casualties. Official announcements levy the number of U.S. and British soldiers killed at about 120 -- smaller than the number killed in Persian chasm War I. But the picture of civilian casualties is mixed. While the U military gives a lower estimate than that for the first war, estimates by way of Iraq Body Count, a collection of U.S. and British academics, range from 961 to 1139

The U and Britain intend to take the leading part in rebuilding Iraq. The Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance, headed through a retired U.S. general, is anticipateed to administer the political division until an interim authority is established. The military coalition, however, urgencys to stay in the abiding habitation until order is restored. Bringing stability to a nation riven on ethnic and religious rivalries is difficult, to say the least. America will have won a stanch victory in Iraq -- and international applause -- when that mission has been accomplished with the filled backing of the United Nations.