White House and Pentagon officials want to eradicate anti-American sentiment in Iraq. But the image of America as an occupying power is one that is to be avoided at all costs. So when White House officials used that fearsome image as a reason to back out of Iraq much sooner than initially planned, their hearts, or at least their public relations skills, were in the right place.

Before the war, the State Department told Congress they would move Iraq toward “self-managed economic prosperity, with a market-based economy and privately owned enterprises that operate in an environment governed by the rule of law.” Fairly vague, but still ambitious, and, if done carefully, could help to truly “liberate” the Iraqi people. Of course, given the previous tactlessness of the Bush administration, it could also make America look like a colonial power. But we may never get a chance to find out.

The State Deparment has laid out a 360-day reconstruction-goal timeline, which calls for the Iraqi electricity system to be built to pre-1991 levels, clean drinking water for 90 percent of the population, basic health care for every Iraqi and 6,000 rehabilitated schools, among other goals. Bush has lauded the plan, making comparisons to the Marshall Plan, a heroic vision of a generous America leaving constitutions and parliaments in its wake.

But the post-World War II occupation of Germany lasted four years. The occupation of Japan lasted seven. And the United States still maintains more than 110,000 troops in those two countries. If we are to truly follow our own example, Iraq won’t be a 360-day whirlwind of instant democracy and automatic infrastructure. This process has to foment over time, at least feigning interest in creating an organic pro-democracy movement among the people of Iraq instead of forcing it upon them.

Andrew Natsios, administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, has told the State Department that the real post-war challenge is to overcome the Iraqi mindset formed over decades of repression.

And that doesn’t happen overnight. Varying experts agree that $2.5 to $3 billion will be needed annually for several years to rebuild Iraq. The total contracts awarded thus far, however, total just $49.3 million, with an additional $645 million possibly available for reconstruction over 18 months, according to the Washington Post.

Congress has approved $2.5 billion for reconstruction and relief in Iraq over the next year. Yes, that’s a lot of money, but we also took the initiative to attack a country, unprovoked, under the ideology of liberating a people from an oppressive dictator. If we truly want to finish what we started, that $2.5 billion will be spent. And if it’s spent wisely, we won’t have to worry about visions of American colonialists dancing on Iraq’s head.

Editorial Board: Cavan Reagan, Amber Billings, Ayrel Clark, Charlie Weaver, Katie List