Mr. Lugar said the physical and political reconstruction of Iraq could take at least five years.

Stability operations are meant to provide the basic day-to-day security that is absolutely essential for physical and political reconstruction to proceed.

The restored government established a political program that focused on physical reconstruction of the country and delayed discussion of independence.

It remains the single biggest obstacle to Iraq's political and physical reconstruction.

And it will also be the center of gravity, they say, for the physical and political reconstruction of Iraq.

The fighting has been contained along sparsely-occupied borderlands, so physical reconstruction is not the issue.

There is no reason to think that the agency will handle institution-building programmes any less successfully than it has physical reconstruction.

We must ensure that it is properly targeted towards sustainable political and physical reconstruction.

However, physical reconstruction can be seen in Mostar.

But the new civil administration would have to deal with that question as well as physical reconstruction of the burned homes and properties.