American Reality Check - Iraq Says GET OUT

Listening to Diane Rehm show this morning (link here), the international hour I found QUITE illuminating. One of the guests,Yochi Dreazen, senior national security correspondent, National Journal magazine, related a story on the show (transcript not yet available at time of this blog posting) that went like this:  "In Basra, there's a massive military base that the British built and the Americans have been running.  The American base commander, who was speaking through a translator to the Iraqi general who was going to be taking over the base, said 'we should have a flag ceremony, lowering the American flag, raising the Iraqi flag.' And the Iraqi general who had been listening to a translator this who time, responded bluntly in English: "No ceremony. Get Out. Now."

American citizens and military are SOOOO Worried about 'leaving with honor' and making the massive sacrifices in blood and treasure poured into Iraq as 'meaningful'.  But according to all of the Diane Rehm show guests, ALL of them VERY informed about conditions on the ground and the political realities and influential forces (the Kurds, the Iranians, the Shia'a militias, the Sunni militias, the Saudis, the military) in Iraq, stated quite clearly that after 8 years of war & occupation, the American military and diplomatic forces are hated, despised, resented.  In Iraqis' perspective, the Americans cannot leave fast enough.  In Americans' perspective, we need to have slow withdrawal "with honor".  Well, sorry, but W and the Neocons flushed away all the honor when they preemptively launched an unnecessary war.  5000 American dead, and 33,000 severely wounded, with millions of Iraqis dead, and a trillion dollars wasted... I don't see the honor in that, and anyone who wants to try and pretend it is honorable, they're delusional. 

The service of the US troops was very honorable, but the mission the politicians sent them on in the first place was not honorable at all, and no amount of Republican hand waving and wringing will "restore" or "instill" any honor in it.  A pig turd is still a pig turd, no matter how much you try to polish it or dress it up, it remains a pig turd.