  The mean field (MF) composite Fermion (CF) picture successfully predicts the
band of low lying angular momentum multiplets of fractional quantum Hall
systems for any value of the magnetic field. This success cannot be attributed
to a cancellation between Coulomb and Chern--Simons interactions between
fluctuations beyond the mean field. It results instead from the short range
behavior of the Coulomb pseudopotential in the lowest Landau level (LL). The
class of pseudopotentials for which the MFCF picture is successful can be
defined, and used to explain the success or failure of the picture in different
cases (e.g. excited LL's, charged magneto-excitons, and Laughlin quasiparticles
in a CF hierarchy picture).
