Iraqi cooperation and goodwill towards invading forces will depend on how many Iraqi civilians are harmed during the war, and also "on political decisions now being debated in the administration and among the allies," The Washington Post said.

A key question is "whether Iraq's postwar administration will be imposed unilaterally by the US military, or forged through a more open and inclusive process with the participation of the United Nations," it went on.

"President Bush would be wise to embrace the latter course," the Post said.

"If the United States comes to be perceived as isolated in its occupation and reconstruction of Iraq, sustaining the incipient goodwill for its mission will be far harder, as will neutralizing those who would destroy that mission with suicide bombs."

In a separate column in the Post Sunday two top senators, one Democrat and one Republican, argued that the United States should fully involve the international community in post-war Iraq.

Senators Joseph Biden and Chuck Hagel, both members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, cited the need to share the economic burden, fight resentment in the Middle East and overcome questions about US motives in Iraq.

In an editorial titled "A Clean, Brief Occupation," the Los Angeles Times noted that "keeping the US in charge indefinitely would only fuel hatred from those who say the United States aims to colonize first Iraq and then the rest of the Middle East.

"The UN should seek a larger role in the name of quelling the inevitable violent fallout of that hate," it said.

The major concern in postwar Iraq, aside from hunting for chemical and biological weapons, will be providing humanitarian aid to the Iraqi people and reconstituting the Iraqi government.

"These are jobs for which the UN is better suited by experience and reputation," the LA Times said.

The Bush administration must insist that those inside Iraq are consulted about forming a transitional regime, and not rely too much on Iraqi exiles whose level of support inside Iraq is unclear.

And "The State Department, not the Pentagon, should be responsible for overseeing creation of a civilian government until the UN becomes involved."

The Bush administration has approved Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's choice of retired general Jay Garner to head up a civilian authority in Baghdad, reporting to General Tommy Franks, the officer in charge of the war.

"This setup should be as brief as possible," the LA Times said.

Members of the US administration are divided over the immediate post-war administration of Iraq, US officials said Friday, speaking on condition of anonymity.

At issue is not only the composition of the planned US occupation government that will rule in the short term, but also the make-up of the Iraqi Interim Authority (IIA) that will follow and a possible role for the United Nations, the officials said.

Rumsfeld has suggested the immediate creation of an IIA, at least in the south, that would draw heavily from the ranks of the exiled Iraqi opposition.

Secretary of State Colin Powell, joined by the intelligence community, fears that this would instantly alienate the indigenous population as well as ruin efforts to repair badly damaged ties with Europe and the Arab world.

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