The daunting battle in Iraq is only in the infant stages.

Clearly, the United States has won the military war in Iraq. Even though there are many issues left to be resolved, it is clear America has won — big.

But it often is said in the political arena that some people can win office but cannot govern. We have won the war; now can we achieve the goals that were set out earlier?

There were four basic goals before the invasion of Iraq:

l Discover and eliminate Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction.

l Combat terrorism not only in Iraq but elsewhere.

l Try to bring some degree of democracy to Iraq.

l Make it clear to other “rogue” states with this impressive show of our might that they would be wise not to pursue similar routes.

In light of what has happened and with our control of important sites in Iraq, winning the war was the easiest aspect of all this. The hunt for and destruction of weapons of mass destruction will be more difficult than some perceived. Terrorism has countless tentacles and the Iraq conquest is probably only scratching the surface in that 24-7 battle.

Iraq and its neighbors have no true concept of anything resembling democracy and we cannot expect them to embrace it for a long time, if ever. We can, of course, help set up systems that will allow the people to avoid new dictators, but we can expect no miracles. If “democracy” breaks out, it is not likely to surface for some time.

It does appear that nations such as North Korea have taken note of our clout and might be a bit more ready to pull in their horns. But that, too, will take incredible effort, imagination and expertise to achieve.

As for the biochemical matter, sadly the production and dissemination of such weapons is so simple that terrorists with a little training can cause incredible problems without any help from Iraq. It is well to cut off sources in Iraq, but the matter reaches far beyond that.

Then there is the constant presence of demonstrations against Americans by people who only a few weeks ago were huddled in terror for fear of what Saddam’s forces might do to them. Finally, they can assemble, shout, howl and wave their fists and often they do not care against whom they are demonstrating. Also, it should be remembered the demonstrations are being encouraged and promoted by those who support Saddam and oppose Uncle Sam.

Frustration has caused many to turn their wrath against the United States because America is a handy target. Demonstrators do not take into account that it was America’s actions that allowed them to take to the streets and complain.

As usual, America is so readily available to blame because these people lack power, water, food and other staples. Uncle Sam was, in their eyes, supposed to wave a magic wand and produce perfection overnight. Truth be known, the Iraqis generally are far better off than they ever were under Saddam.

Winning the war will prove to be the easiest task. Winning over more hearts and minds of the people in Iraq will be a larger, often discouraging assignment.

We will be dealing with a repressed people who will not be easy to assuage. They know they are working with a country that can help give them something they never would have come close to under Saddam Hussein. And they want it now.

We cannot expect any thank-you notes for a long, long time.