The human rights group Amnesty International has accused US-led forces of being better prepared for the defence of Iraq's oil wells than of its people and infrastructure.
"There seems to have been more preparation to protect the oil wells than to protect hospitals, water systems or civilians," Irene Khan, secretary-general of the British-based group, told a news conference in London today.
"And the first taste of the coalition's approach to law and order will not have inspired confidence in the Iraqi people."
Washington and London deny suggestions that the invasion of Iraq was linked to its large oil reserves, and have vowed to make sure Iraqis collect any oil profits.
But since the fall of Saddam Hussein last week, water shortages and looting in parts of Iraq have proved awkward counterpoints to the widely televised popular celebrations.
Khan acknowledged that guarding oil wells and protecting people were two very different tasks, but she said the focus among US and British commanders on their liberating role in Iraq made the people's welfare an even larger issue for them.
"Protecting people should be a primary responsibility of any power that expects to enter a country and justifies its intervention on the basis of liberating the people or protecting their rights," she said.
On Iraq's future, Amnesty objected to leaders of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) taking part in a new government because of alleged rights violations during a civil war in the mid-1990s.
Amnesty said the groups, which have shared control of northern Iraq since the 1991 Gulf War, were responsible for many civilian deaths and widespread torture.
Amnesty repeated calls for a UN commission to investigate human rights abuses both before and during the conflict, similar to the United Nations' role after war in the former Yugoslavia.
Khan said US and British soldiers were subject to international law on occupying forces, and obliged to protect Iraqi human rights while they were there.
With Iraq's city police forces being rebuilt, Khan called for strong vetting procedures to make sure no one accused of rights abuses was reinstated as a policeman.
As for reform of the broader criminal justice system, that was a job for the UN or an elected Iraqi government, she said.