Al-Maliki's government has declared Tuesday National Sovereignty Day and decreed a public holiday.
"June 30 is an important turning point on the civilian, security and political levels, and this is the feeling shared by all Iraqis," Salim al-Jubouri, spokesman for the Sunni Iraqi Accordance Front, said in a statement.
He also said "terrorist elements" would try to disrupt the withdrawal but added that Iraqi forces were capable of ensuring security. Although considerable progress has been made at reconciling Sunnis and Shiites, there is still a divide between the two Islamic sects that nearly brought the country to the brink of civil war in 2006-2007.
And as Strategypage noted (I think that's my source), given that our troops have been preparing to pull out the last month, urban security already is a primary Iraqi responsibility.
I just don't sense that the current violence is a sign of security breaking down. The Iraqis can handle the threat, given time.
And with the situation secure enough to begin this withdrawal from the cities (though we still have a large supporting role, remember), I'd like to call November 27, 2008 the official Victory in Iraq Day.
We still have more to do to help our Iraqi allies, as we still do for South Korea long after the "end" of that war, but we've won this war. The Iraqi government will survive.
Now we have to shape what kind of government that will be over time.
