You broke it, it's yours.

This is a slogan appropriate not only for shops that sell glassware and other delicate objects, but also for countries.

The United States made a major contribution to breaking Vietnam and Cambodia, with the result that there are substantial communities that began as refugees admitted by administrations that admitted to responsibility for their dislocation.

Now it is the turn of the Iraqis, and perhaps Afghans.

No question, in my mind, that the United States broke Iraq. To be sure, the regime of Saddam Hussein was ugly, especially toward non-Sunni communities. However, the several reasons for attacking in 2003 are mired in controversy, and are a long way from having garnered significant support since then.

Today's New York Times features a heart-rendering article on lives broken by what has happened in Iraq. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/10/world/middleeast/10refugees.html?ex=1344398400&en=e9ca9b1cca735b0b&ei=5089&partner=rssyahoo&emc=rss

My initial suggestion is to stop the aid given to the Palestinians by the United Nations and various non-governmental organizations, and give it to Iraqis. The Palestinians have had enough time, in almost 60 years, to put their lives in order. The real crisis is now elsewhere.

That will not happen. There are too many Arab and Muslim votes in the United Nations, and so many years invested by non-governmental organizations in developing sympathy for the Palestinians, and setting up their infrastructure (and hiring Palestinians) in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Jordan and elsewhere.

The Vietnamese and Cambodians have been living in the United States long enough to have moved out, or to be ready to move out of their initial neighborhoods.

Welcome to the Iraqis.

The New York Times article indicates that the bulk of refugees are likely to be those not enthused about supporting any of the players in the civil war that has emerged out of the American invasion. Many will be hard working and educated middle class strivers. If we can make some guesses about what has happened elsewhere, it is their children, not feeling part of American culture, who will fill the Madrasas and begin causing the troubles apparent in Britain, France, and Pakistan.

So George W. Bush and his supporters have, perhaps, a generation to bring democracy to the Iraqis (in Iraq or elsewhere) before they risk breaking their own country.

The story of Afghanistan is something else. If that country was broken, the Russians contributed at least as much as the Americans. Or it may be closer to the truth to say that Afghanistan never was a real country. Insofar as it had never been put together, no one can claim responsibility for breaking it.

There was more reason for the United States to attack the Taliban regime after 9-11 than there was to attack Iraq. More recently, in a repeat of what has been seen before in the cycles of Afghan history, the Taliban are coming back.

Pakistan was the favored place of Afghan refugees from the Russians and the Taliban. Lots of them would prefer the United States. Some years ago, a young man in a village about 100 miles from Kabul asked me how long it took to get to the United States by bus. He had never heard of the ocean.

There will be much to do for American school teachers as well as social workers and landlords. And for security personnel. The bit I know about Afghan and Iraqi culture tells me that the Afghans will be quicker to send their children to the Madrasas for schooling.

Good luck.