Those who thought the interim government of Premier Iyad Allawi was baying for the moon when it invited Shiite militiamen in Baghdad’s Sadr City neighborhood to hand in their weapons in return for cash appear to have been proved wrong. With the agreement of their radical leader Moqtada Sadr, supporters have been bringing weapons to collection centers and receiving US dollars in return.

It is certain that much of the weaponry handed in will have been unserviceable; nor will the Shiite fighters have surrendered the bulk of their arsenal. This, however, was never the real point of the exercise. The inhabitants of Sadr city have long been among the poorest Iraqis. The government has earmarked $500 million for the redevelopment of Sadr City. If this money is used and used soon to create real economic opportunity for the area’s inhabitants, the transformation of the gun into a grub stake in future prosperity will be compelling.

However, whether this mechanism will work elsewhere in areas less afflicted by poverty remains to be seen. At the moment, the people of Fallujah are preparing themselves for another assault by US forces who are anxious to repeat the success of their seizure of Samarra at the beginning of the month. This attack is being prepared despite the continued presence of Iraqi police in the city, who are reportedly accepted by the community providing they are not seen to be doing the bidding of US forces.

This is the key point that must be remembered by the Bush administration while planning its next course in Iraq. It will have to decide what its ultimate mission is in that country: Is it to take its shock-and-awe mission to its ultimate conclusion — pulverize the city and prove to friends and foes what it would mean to oppose American plans for the region, no matter how many thousands have to die to prove that point? Or is it to allow Iraq to live on, as its people wish to, whether or not that follows the script the president’s advisers had written for postwar Iraq?

As far as Iraqi public opinion can be ascertained, many of those scenarios have no chance of coming true — one of them that of Iraqis wanting America to stay on and manage their affairs. The latest of the surveys to bring this fact out is a new USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll conducted in late March and early April. According to the survey, only a third of the Iraqi people now believe that the American-led occupation of their country is doing more good than harm, and a solid majority support an immediate military pullout even though they fear that could put them in greater danger. But while they acknowledge benefits from dumping Saddam a year ago, Iraqis no longer see the presence of the American-led military as a plus. Asked whether they view the US-led coalition as “liberators” or “occupiers,” 71 percent of all respondents say “occupiers.” That figure reaches 81 percent if the separatist, pro-US Kurdish minority in northern Iraq is not included. The negative characterization is just as high among the Shiite Muslims.

What this suggests is not an operation to pulverize Fallujah, but one to end the American presence with good will.