UNLESS WE WANT Al Jazeera to be the principal media influence on the new political culture of Iraq, the U.S. occupation needs to find its voice. In a letter to the editor of the Washington Post last week, Cold War elder statesman Max Kampelman faulted the U.S. occupation for failing to use television and radio to best effect. We should have been explaining U.S. objectives to the people of Iraq on a daily basis, Kampelman said, and reminding them that we intend to leave as soon as they are “assured of democracy, safety, and human dignity.”

That’s water under the bridge. But it’s not too late to get the next phase right. Yesterday’s announcement of an Iraqi committee to draw up procedures for drafting a constitution should usher in intensive U.S. programming designed to help prepare Iraqis for the choices and compromises ahead.