Today is a red-letter day in Iraq. US soldiers have withdrawn from Iraqi cities, retreating to base pending their ultimate departure over the next two years. And Iraqis, funnily enough, are celebrating:
Iraqis have held a giant party in a Baghdad park as US troops approach their deadline for withdrawing from cities and towns to their bases.No more foreign thugs on their streets, no more casual murders by US troops in the name of "force protection", no more invaders kicking in people's doors in the middle of the night, smashing up their houses, and dragging them off to Abu Ghraib to be tortured. That's certainly worth celebrating. And it'll be an even bigger party when they finally go home for good.Thousands flocked to the capital's Zawra Park to be entertained by musicians and poets, as police patrol cars were festooned with flowers.
US-led combat operations in Iraq are due to end by September 2010, with all troops gone by the end of 2011.
Iraq has declared Tuesday National Sovereignty Day, a public holiday.
