This was a hectic week, but this little story shouldn't have gone unnoticed. As reported by the BBC:
A ceremony has been held in Basra to mark the official end of the six-year British military mission in Iraq.
UK combat operations ended as 20th Armoured Brigade took part in a flag-lowering ceremony with a US brigade.
Gordon Brown said the operation in Iraq had been a "success story" because of UK troops' efforts.
But the Stop the War Coalition said it had been a disaster and the 179 British military deaths were made more acute by the pointlessness of the UK presence.
We can debate the meaning of that whole success thing. And we can debate whether things are getting better. But the simple fact is that our most loyal ally, Britain, has ended its participation in the occupation of Iraq; and the real question remains: will we?
In the words of the great new Senator from Oregon:
However, I have reservations about the extended 19 month schedule for the draw down and I am very concerned that the size of the remaining force would still be too great. It will be hard to argue that our military presence is ‘residual’ when it is comprised of as many as 50,000 Americans
Out of Iraq means out of Iraq.