Those of us who have opposed this war need to recognize that we lost the debate, not only in the halls of the White House but also in the court of public opinion as well. It's time to move on.

We all share President Bush's hope that ousting Saddam will transform Iraq into a flourishing democracy and revive the Middle East. Here are two principles that may help us improve the chances of winning the peace in Iraq:

First, make this an Arab victory.

As the Pakistani scholar Hussain Haqqani has noted, there's a flaw in the idea that invading Iraq will lead to a new Arab dawn: for the last 700 years, Muslims have reacted to defeat not by embracing modernism but by turning inward and grasping religious fundamentalism. On the other hand, the greatest reform in any Muslim country in the last century came in Turkey after a rare victory, when Kemal Ataturk defeated the Greeks and foiled Western plans to carve up his country.

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That suggests that we should make the outcome in Iraq seem, as much as possible, like a victory for Iraqis, and we should put them in charge quickly. There is a way to engineer this: Shiites make up about 60 percent of Iraqis but have historically been politically repressed and economically impoverished, so if we allow them their fair share of power, this will be a genuine and historic triumph for them.

Second, don't mess with Iraq's oil

Everywhere I have been in the Arab world over the last year, people have been deeply cynical about American motives, assuming that we're just after Iraqi oil. Unless we want to give anti-Americanism a huge boost and create tremendous hostility within Iraq that would make our occupation untenable, we won't covet Iraq's oil ? it's just not worth it. Having harmed America's image in the runup to this war, let's restore it in the aftermath.