American troops officially withdrew from cities throughout Iraq today.  The event was declared a national holiday across the country, but many Iraqis stayed home, fearing violence in the absence of the security presence the American military has provided.  The urban pullout comes over six years after the invasion of Iraq in 2003.  U.S. troops are currently on track with their scheduled full withdrawal of all combat personnel by the end of 2011.

Despite the fears that kept many Iraqis inside, many police officers and other ecstatic Iraqis took to the streets to celebrate the departure of American troops and return of Iraqi sovereignty over their own cities–more than half a dozen years after former Vice President Dick Cheney falsely predicted the Iraqi public would greet US soldiers as liberators with flowers in the streets.  Hopefully the Iraqi government will be able to govern effectively and respect the rights of the minority Sunni and Kurd populations in the troubled nation.  But the lessons of Iraq should never be forgotten.  War is rarely, if ever, a simple matter.LINKS:

WaPo: In Iraq, Jubilation as U.S. Combat Troops Withdraw From Cities

Al Jazeera: Iraqi sovereignty day ‘premature’

NPR: Foreign Policy: Iraq’s Real Deadline