In a move designed to thwart the insurgents who hoped to thwart the smooth and peaceful transfer of "sovereignty" on Wednesday, we secretly transferred said fake power 2 days early.
At the risk of being overly pessimistic, I have to go with Ezra's take on this. Doing it early and in secret is not a sign of success, it's a sign of fear.
I guess they figure getting it done without everyone blowing up is worth missing the points they'd score by having a big fancy ceremony. Still, do we really think the insurgents are all bummed now? They're sitting in their spider holes going, "Oh fuck! Those bastards tricked us! What are we going to do now?"
Anyway, I wish the Iraqis luck with their new found "freedom." It sounds really scary.
In related news, The Onion reports that, despite appearances, most Iraqis are still alive.
Meanwhile, Bush's presence in Istanbul (not Constantinople) has turned that mostly Muslim city of about 10 million into a veritable open-air prison, which I'm sure is doing wonders for how we're thought of over there.