A tumultuous week of war and politics has seen the collapse of the Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq amid scenes of jubilation and relief that it is gone. But law and order have completely disintegrated and public and private property has been systematically looted. Iraq's very unity and integrity are put at issue by these events.
It is a bitter-sweet picture for ordinary Iraqis delighted to witness the end of the regime but starkly aware of the colossal task they face to replace and repair the damage and restore their political sovereignty.
The United States and Britain now bear a huge responsibility, as the invading and now occupying powers, to impose their authority, chart a path towards Iraqi self-rule and find legitimacy for it through the United Nations.
This will be made more difficult by the launch of the war without explicit Security Council mandate. They may be tempted to act as conquerors by asserting control over Iraq's affairs through a whole range of post-war governing functions under a military administration.
These include immediately restoring civil authority; distributing humanitarian aid and reconstruction contracts; searching for weapons of mass destruction; trying major agents of the vanquished regime; installing new ministries and the personnel to run them; restoring the country's oil and gas industries; laying down parameters for domestic and foreign policy; and preparing the way for an interim civilian administration as soon as Iraqis have the opportunity to organise themselves politically.
Detailed planning for these tasks has proceeded under the direction of Gen Jay Garner, based in Kuwait. And yet US troops in Baghdad are utterly incapable of preventing a foreseeable orgy of looting and destruction.
If this goes on for many more days it will be far more difficult to establish authority in the face of Iraqi anger, frustration and sudden poverty - and especially if these come on top of suspicions that the price of freedom from Saddam Hussein is a new Anglo-American dependency deeply resented elsewhere in the Middle East.
That is why endorsement and legitimation of the new Iraqi regime must come through the United Nations. It must apply to all these governing functions, including validating any finds of weapons of mass destruction, trying war criminals, and the control and care of Iraq's oil wealth. At Hillsborough this week the UN role was described as vital - "essential" in the dictionary definition. That is not so far from the central role demanded yesterday by Germany, France and Russia. They refused to endorse the invasion but are ready to help in Iraq's reconstruction.
Mr Tony Blair's call for a postwar United Nations conference on Iraq's future is the best way to secure their support and establish regional and global legitimacy for a new Iraqi government.
In the meantime the issue for the citizens of Iraq is who will bring law and order back to the streets.