National Sovereignty Day in Iraq

This quote from Dhafir al-Ani, an opposition member of the Iraqi parliament and head of the largest Sunni bloc, puts the celebrations in Iraq today into perspective:

"Sovereignty means you are capable of free decision-making, defending your national soil, airspace and waters. Iraq is definitely far from achieving all this, I think the title of 'sovereignty day' should be reserved until we achieve the full sovereignty."

That day is not scheduled to come until December 2011, but today, June 30, is being celebrated as National Sovereignty Day.

My metaphor for the U.S. invasion of and eventual withdrawal from Iraq has been pulling out a knife. I wrote, back in the fall of 2007: "When we invaded, we stabbed Iraq in the stomach. Somehow we have to remove the knife without killing the patient."

In a followup post, I wrote: "Also, remember that Iraq cannot really heal until we pull out. We are the knife that has been driven into their body. Even after the doctors are able to safely remove the blade, the patient still may be in danger."

So here we are, today, finally the doctors are taking out the knife. The operation is not over, the wounds and incisions have not been closed. The tools of the operation stand at the ready. But the doctors stand back and wait for spurts of blood, leaks in the arteries. Did they do their job well enough? Or will they have to go back in again to stop more blood from being spilled?

But faced with the reality of this day, my metaphor doesn't fully hold up. For one, U.S. troops will now return only at the request of the Iraqi authorities. I can't imagine a surgeon waiting for the permission of patient to repair an artery that ruptured in the middle of surgery.

However, it cannot be denied that pulling out of the cities is a significant psychological and symbolic event. No longer will the majority of Iraqis wake up to see the uniforms of the invaders on their streets. Even if it that invasion had positive results - like the toppling of a brutal dictatorship - I don't think any nation on Earth can easily bear the humiliation of being conquered and occupied by another.

That is why sovereignty is so important to the well-being of Iraqis.

It has been a day of contradictions. As Iraqis celebrate with fireworks, like an old-fashioned American Fourth of July, the U.S. military reported that four soldiers were killed in Baghdad on the eve of the withdrawal.

The withdrawal was also celebrated with a parade, but it was held within the heavily fortified Green Zone. So, the general public could not attend. And many news organizations were barred from the parade.

But the barring of the reporters actually has an upside. The reason why the reporters could not get in was because the checkpoints are now run solely by Iraqis. When they were joint U.S.-Iraqi checkpoints, the American military often smoothed things over to let the reporters through. Now, the reporters can't rely on their American contacts, but must deal directly with the Iraqi authorities.

But that is what this withdrawal is all about, giving the Iraqis the power to control their own country.

Sovereignty.