Iraq's upcoming elections are an opportunity to put local government on the right footing.

While the transfer of sovereignty is a watershed, Iraqis say true legitimacy will come only with the elections.

Before Saddam Hussein was ousted, Iraqi Kurdistan was more democratic than the rest of Iraq, but this is no longer the case.

Though Iraqis will cheerCPA adminstrator L. Paul Bremer'sdeparture, the transfer of sovereignty will not mark the beginning of the end, but rather the end of the beginning.

Decentralizing Iraq's political system may be the only way to prevent the country from falling apart.

Only accountability to constituencies brings democracy.

With the conclusion of the Iraqi National Conference last month, the next milestone for Iraqi democracy will be the January 2005 elections for a 275-member parliament.

It is too early either to claim success or mourn Iraq's loss, but what is certain is that the United States won a stunning military victory in Iraq but lost the occupation.