There may well still be painful battles and hard surprises ahead, but U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said today that “the hostilities phase is coming to a conclusion.” What will be the challenges of wrapping up the war and moving into the dangerous zone between war and peace that lies ahead?

Daryl Press, Professor of Government at Dartmouth College, says that the hostilities in Iraq are not over yet, but once the fighting stops, the coalition troops will have to provide security on the streets, prevent lawlessness and looting, and establish order so the Iraqi civilians can resume their day-to-day lives.

John Reppert, Retired Brigadier U.S. Army General, predicts that certain Iraqi groups and individuals will continue to wage guerrilla or underground fighting once the war has ended, which will make the transition from war-making to peace-making for the coalition troops more challenging and difficult than initially expected.

Click the “Listen” link to hear more about what the transition from war to peace in Iraq will be like and what coalition troops will have to do to facilitate such a transition.

Guests:

Daryl Press, Professor of Government at Dartmouth College and consultant to the U.S. Department of Defense on military planning in the Persian Gulf

John Reppert, Retired Brigadier U.S. Army General, and Executive Director of Research at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government

Marina Ottaway, Senior Associate with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Democracy and Rule of Law Project

Rocco Casagrande, former chief of the Biological Analysis Lab for the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) and director of the Homeland Security Program for ABT Associates.