Iraqis rejoice as U.S. troops leave Baghdad

[gldstwmn]

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNe...55S3WG20090629

By Tim Cocks and Muhanad Mohammed

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. troops pulled out of Baghdad on Monday, triggering jubilation among Iraqis hopeful that foreign military occupation is ending six years after the invasion to depose Saddam Hussein.

Iraqi soldiers paraded through the streets in their American-made vehicles draped with Iraqi flags and flowers, chanting, dancing and calling the pullout a "victory."

One drove a motorcycle with party streamers on it; another, a Humvee with a garland of plastic roses on the grill.

U.S. combat troops must pull out of Iraq's urban centers by midnight on Tuesday under a bilateral security pact that also requires all troops to leave the country by 2012.

All had left the capital by Monday afternoon, Major-General in Staff, Abboud Qanbar, head of Iraqi security forces in Baghdad, told Reuters.

Another Iraqi official who would not be named said some units in cities outside Baghdad would leave at the last minute. Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said 30 bases remained to be handed over. There are still some 130,000 U.S. troops in Iraq.

Addressing military leaders in Baghdad, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said: "Our sovereignty has started and ... we should move forward to build a modern state and enjoy (the) security which has been achieved."

Many Iraqis were elated even though they feared militants might use the withdrawal as an opportunity to step up attacks.

"The American forces' withdrawal is something awaited by every Iraqi: male, female, young and old. I consider June 30 to be like a wedding," said Ahmed Hameed, 38, near an ice cream bar in Baghdad's upmarket Karrada district.

"This is proof Iraqis are capable of controlling security inside Iraq," added the recent returnee from exile in Egypt.

The government has declared June 30 a national holiday, "National Sovereignty Day."

Full story at link.

[David]

I'd hate to live in Iraq.

Here's where I'd hate to live:

Iraq
Iran
Saudi Arabia
Jordan
Syria
Afghanistan
Egypt
Lebanon
Kuwait
Bahrain
Qatar
Oman
Turkey
UAE
Yemen
Papua New Guinea
East Timor
Andaman Islands
Nicobar Islands
Indonesia
North Korea
Sumatra
Java
Kalimantan
Sulawesi
Maluku Islands
Mexico
Central America

Here's where I'd love to live:

Patagonia
Adak/Unimak Islands
Hebrides
Scotland
Ireland
Buckinghamshire, England
Berkshire, England
Oxfordshire, England
The Yukon
Humboldt/Arcata, California
Bern
Zurich
Geneva

Reasons for not wanting or wanting to live in a region are based on politics, geography, & climate.