at midnight, US hands over green zone

[WillieW]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/31/AR2008123103121.html

By Ernesto Londoño
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, January 1, 2009; Page A01

BAGHDAD, Dec. 31 -- The walls of the majestic Republican Palace in Baghdad's Green Zone have been stripped bare. The vaults that secured American cash and classified documents are gone, and the cement blast walls that protected the front entrance were taken down this week. The U.S. military dining facility inside what was once the American Embassy served its last meal New Year's Eve.

"This is the end of the world as we know it," said Sgt. 1st Class Patrick McDonald, 47, who co-authored a guide to historic sites in the Green Zone. "It's not like everyone is shredding documents and fleeing Saigon. But we are stepping away from a building."

Saddam Hussein had the palace compound's main building decorated with giant busts of himself to demonstrate his hold over Iraq. After the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, the palace came to symbolize the American role in the country, first as the headquarters of the U.S. occupation authority and later the U.S. Embassy. American civilians and troops held "salsa night" dances around the pool behind the palace before retiring to trailers sheathed in sandbags.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

1. I wonder

how many trips to Baghdad John McCain will make now?

[Xenotime]

2. it this the first step to ending ocupation? or are they moving somepalce more luxurious?