With the American military occupation of Iraq now ended in name if not entirely in fact, a postscript is in order about the complainers. We have ourselves at times been among them, as have many of the Iraqis we admire. Some complaints have substance. A former American official in Iraq, Michael Rubin, for instance, complains in National Review Online that American officials should move out of Saddam’s old palace, because their presence there sends the wrong message. Mr. Rubin’s skepticism about the nationwide party-slate election system imposed on the Iraqis by the American occupation — as opposed to an election like the one here in America, which is based on geo graphic districts and constituencies — is well founded.

For all that, though, a bit of history puts all the complaints into perspective. We were reminded of this the other day, when, in the editorial rooms here at The New York Sun, we came across the October 30, 1945, number of the erstwhile New York newspaper PM. “The Failure of Our Military Government in Germany,” was the page one headline. “GIs Say U.S.A. Fails in Rule of Reich Zone” read the inside headline, with the subheadline “Men in Field List Flops and Blame Muddled Policy.”

The news article in PM, datelined Bad Wiesse, begins,”U.S. soldiers who are occupying and governing the U.S. zone in Germany believe overwhelmingly we are making a failure of the job. The great majority want to go home — the sooner the better. They are sick of Germany, sick of the Army. And they are ashamed and disgusted at the failures of the Military Governments.”

Six months to a year after shooting had ended in Germany, according to PM,”We have failed to rid the U.S. zone of Nazis.” Also, “We have failed to gain the respect of German adults, either for the U.S.A. or for the ideals we represent.” Also, “We have failed to start a comprehensive program of re-educating children in democratic anti-Nazi and anti-militarist ways.” Also, “We have failed to cultivate the democratic forces existing in Germany.” Also, “We have failed to tell either the Germans or our own fellows what kind of Germany we want them to rebuild.”

Sound familiar?

Germany today isn’t America, but it is nonetheless an astounding success story — a democracy, signatory of the North Atlantic Treaty, an economic power, and

a free country. Some argue that is because Germany is a predominantly Christian country, and that the hopes for freedom and democracy in the mostly Islamic Iraq are more dim. But we dispute an explanation based primarily on religious or even cultural factors.

On the contrary, the handoff of sovereignty to Iraqis takes place during a week that reminds us of the universality of the yearning for freedom, a point that President Bush has made often and emphatically. Tomorrow, July 1, a massive pro-democracy protest is scheduled for Hong Kong. And the July 4 holiday is a reminder of how freedom and democracy were obtained here in America — and with them the iron-clad right to complain about our own government. It’s a right that Americans haven’t hesitated to exercise over the years, and that Germans and Iraqis now have for themselves, thanks to America.