A year ago today many people around the world felt a deep sense of failure. Iraq had endured it first 24 hours of bombardment by cruise missiles and smart bombs. Saddam and his people thought they knew what was going to hit them because of their experience of the initial attacks of the first Gulf War. But the bombs this time were smarter, the cruise missiles more deadly and the tidal wave of high-tech weaponry overwhelming to a country weakened by 12 years of sanctions.

It did not have to be this way. The Americans and their coalition allies could have worked for consensus in the UN. That they chose to abandon working for international unity and go it alone meant that whatever the military victory, the subsequent peace would be a lot harder to win. In the battle for the hearts and minds of the region, the Iraqi resistance has been able to justify its murderous activities by saying that it is fighting a Washington initiative launched in the teeth of opposition from many of America’s friends and allies.

Maybe the aftermath of Saddam’s overthrow would have been less violent if — as in the first Gulf War — the world had given legitimacy to the enterprise. We will never know. What we have to deal with now are the realities of Iraq since the invasion.

The coalition claims that matters have been “quietly improving” after the initial chaos that followed the overthrow of the regime. Yet that seems unlikely. Even in Basra, where the British have had to cope with far less insurgency, essential services are not fully restored. Hospitals still do not have sufficient drugs, while plundered or damaged equipment remains unreplaced. Many Iraqis are now unemployed, pensions are unpaid and commercial life is still disrupted.

When Arab journalists walked out on Colin Powell in Baghdad a few days ago, he told them that they could never have done so under Saddam Hussein. It was a glib comment given that the journalists were protesting the death of their colleagues in a hail of American bullets, but it had a point. Perhaps one reason why Iraqis are so vocal in their rejection of the occupation is that they are venting the frustrations of 30 years, now that they finally can.

When Iraqis begin to run their own affairs again in June, they will have an opportunity to set their own priorities. The task ahead will be daunting. The Iraqi authorities will need all the help they can get, and that means first and foremost from the United Nations. The UN meanwhile is understandably reluctant to return to Iraq until the security situation is under control.

The main task for the Coalition is to enable a UN return. There must be no further fudge. George Bush and his allies owe it to Iraqis to win the peace.