Victors don't declare victory over each other

I've been stewing over something really lousy that Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has been saying: Iraqis have won a "great victory" over the "foreign presence in Iraq."

That "great victory," as he calls it, is the June 30 withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq's cities. That "foreign presence," as he calls it, is the U.S. - the thousands of mainly young American men who have fought a vicious enemy in Iraq under the harshest conditions for more than six long years.

The mind reels - both at the import of Maliki's words and the tepid U.S. non-reaction to them. Asked whether he found Maliki's "terminology acceptable," Gen. Raymond Odierno went all political, talking-pointing to Iraqis' "progression in their capacities" blah, blah.

The post-withdrawal "expert" assessments I've seen haven't even mentioned Iraq's "victory." Typically, John Nagl, president of Center for a New American Security, a Left-wing defense think tank with close ties to the Obama administration, is still mooning over "the strategic imperative of establishing an enduring relationship" with Iraq.

Someone should break it to him that Iraq isn't going to enter into an "enduring relationship" with a "foreign presence." Like love, U.S. defense policy is blind.

This could explain why the US has entered total pushover mode in Iraq, as dictated by the U.S.-Iraq security agreement negotiated by the Bush administration, all in support of Maliki's narrative of victory over us.

The New York Times describes "a drastically reshaped American military posture, largely because of Mr. Maliki's insistence." Indeed, much American military activity is now taking place "during the dark of night," presumably to bolster Maliki's claims of "victory." As one Maliki crony said, "They [U.S. troops] will be invisible for the people. They will turn into genies."

"Genies?" Does that mean Maliki has the USA plugged up in a bottle? Certainly, we don't talk like free agents. Among the 150-plus bases and outposts the U.S. has closed in Iraqi cities this year are some U.S. commanders still considered crucial. About one such base, Brig. Gen. John M. Murray told the Times: "The Iraqi government said `no,' so now we are leaving."

This doesn't sound exactly Patton-esque, but would that we were leaving the whole sorry country. Meanwhile, the Times reports, "decisions on what Americans remain where - doing what - ultimately now rest with the Iraqis, and the Americans have deferred in negotiations."

Me, I feel sick. But apparently not Lt. Col. Timothy M. Karcher, commander of forces departing Sadr City: "We will be gone in whatever way the Iraqi government tells us to be gone." Now, there's a rousing war quotation for you. Quick -- someone write a new verse to the "The Caissons Go Rolling Along."

The Times report continues: "The Americans have been strikingly sensitive" - naturally - "to Mr. Maliki's political position, emphasizing Iraqi primacy in all public remarks." For example, "they have declined to specify how many American troops will remain in cities, seemingly fearful of undercutting Mr. Maliki's public declarations of a full withdrawal."

What, no Kick-Me stickers? Sorry to interrupt the weekend weenie roast, but doesn't it bother a single American out there that the United States is just kind of hanging around Iraq, full metal rent-a-cops, waiting for some word, any word, from the self-anointed victor over the United States?

Of course, the main point here is not what we perceive as Maliki's ingratitude, or his disgraceful disregard of those Americans and allies who have fallen in Iraq. The main point of the prime minister's shocking statement is this: Iraq is not on the same side as the U.S.

I'm afraid this will shock most Americans, but just let it sink in; it will explain a lot about the last six years. Meanwhile, the simple fact is, allies don't declare victory over each other. No doubt this presents a problem, at least for those among us who have claimed "victory" in Iraq for (not over) the U.S. They and Maliki can't both be right. Someone is being played for a chump.

My suggestion? We should take this July Fourth weekend to declare U.S. independence all over again -- only this time from Iraq.

Diana West is a syndicated columnist and the author ofThe Death of the Grown-Up: How America's Arrested Development Is Bringing Down Western Civilization.