Premature my ass!

And so, Instapundit displays his ignorance about the complexities inherent in organising a parade like this one ought to be (and it's not before time I must say, the guy's range of expertise is almost scary ...).

Granted this is only the end stage of the Iraq Campaign; most of the units that will rotate out of Iraq over the next 18 months or so will do so to begin training up for eventual deployment in the Afghan theater of operations. The Iraq Campaign has been won and now must be brought to it's administrative conclusion as well, but the war rages on however little we here at home can see of it.

I wonder what airfare to, and hotel prices in, Baghdad will be like a year from now? If standing on a street corner yelling and applauding like a fool for a day is the most direct contribution I can make to the war effort then so be it. We too serve, and all that rubbish.

I particularly liked this little understated gem:

The negotiations will bring to a formal conclusion the U.N. Chapter 7 Security Council involvement in the occupation and administration of Iraq, and are expected to reduce the number of American troops to about 50,000 troops permanently stationed there ...

Anybody taking bets on how long it will be before those boys and girls are providing the infrastructure for activities that used to occur in places like Bad Tolz and Munich, just for instance? I fully expect for Iraq to become our (the US and allied country's military forces) middle-eastern equivalent of the US Army's National Training Center in California.

Further to that, if the Israeli's can just hang on for a few more years, I also won't be surprised to see Iraq and Jordan enter into a treaty with that country to construct a pipeline for Iraqi and Jordanian crude oil directly to a Mediterranean port facility.

That ought to flush the Saudi's out into the open.