As a testament to his political ability and the perseverance of not only the Bush administration but the Allied troops, as well, Paul Bremer has managed a stunning success: a twenty-five member ruling council representing Iraqis of all stripes, particularly majority Shiites.

Before and immediately after the engagement, doubt hung leaden on the necks of skeptics as to the future of post-Saddam Iraq. From conservative war supporter Stanley Kurtz to vitriolic, anti-American Ted Rall, the prospect of committing American money, energy and lives to ensuring self-governance and a free market to the erstwhile military epicenter of the Near East seemed unlikely at best and imprudent at worst.

The prudence of the American ambition to overwhelm authoritarian governance and anarchic culture in the region through democracy can still be debated (albeit from a pessimistic, utterly cornered position) - but the likelihood of that wave beginning in Baghdad cannot:

Images of the inauguration were broadcast live by Western and Arab satellite television, received in about 40 percent of homes in Baghdad. Council members -- some dressed in traditional Arab robes, some in Islamic cleric garb, others in business suits -- sat in a semicircle of chairs on a stage before an audience of dignitaries.

The council includes 13 Shiites, five Kurds, five Sunnis, one Christian and one Turkoman. Three members are women. Shiites make up a 60 percent majority of Iraq's 24 million population, but they have never ruled the country and suffered deeply under Saddam's minority Sunni government.

"I helped deliver thousands of Iraqi babies, and now I am taking part in the birth of a new country and a new rule based on women's rights, humanity, unity and freedom," said Raja Habib al-Khuzaai, one of the female council members and the director of a maternity hospital in southern Iraq.

In Japan, despite an inherent cultural suspicion of politics, the continued presence of the Diet and a prime minister undoubtedly aided the progress of its reclamation. When the governing body embraced change, challenges to even the relatively liberal Meiji period would be softened by the cooperation of native statesmen; if the Japanese politicians resisted change and attempted to drive a hard bargain to thwart the Supreme Commander of Allied Powers' New Deal-like populism - as they often did - they served as an unwitting foil for liberalization, especially from the point of view of MacArthur, who often, on progressive initiatives, connected directly with the populace over the heads of reactionaries and enhanced the merit of his plans against an archaic alternative.

Another boon to this first stage of consensual government is the slow, steady rejection of extremism - after all, why choose hatred, death and destruction when you have the opportunity to achieve a healthy livelihood and the right to petition for grievance? The bellwethers in this group will help underscore the choices available to the Iraqi people:

Many of the Governing Council members were pro-American in comments made during a news conference after the inauguration, and several criticized Arabic television channels and the British Broadcasting Corp. for coverage they saw as pro-Saddam.

"For how long are these (Arabic) satellite channels going to wait for Saddam to return? Saddam is on the rubbish heap of history," Bahr al-Uloum said in response to a question from a correspondent with Qatar-based Al-Jazeera satellite broadcasting organization.

Ahmad Chalabi, founder of the once-exiled Iraqi National Congress, condemned attacks on American forces in the country. "The Iraqi people consider them forces of liberation and they don't consider these attacks as acts of resistance," Chalabi said.

As order is gradually restored to the country, ballots will soon be reliable enough to provide Iraqis the pluralist, capitalist, democrat leaders they - like any other people - need to prosper. Many challenges await, no doubt, but the first test of the occupation has been passed brilliantly.