Checking in…

…on Way New® brand sovereignty by Bushco™.

BAGHDAD, Oct. 31 — Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki demanded the removal of American checkpoints from the streets of Baghdad on Tuesday, in what appeared to be his latest and boldest gambit in an increasingly tense struggle for more independence from his American protectors.

Mr. Maliki’s public declaration seemed at first to catch American commanders off guard. But by nightfall, American troops had abandoned all the positions in eastern and central Baghdad that they had set up last week with Iraqi forces as part of a search for a missing American soldier. The checkpoints had snarled traffic and disrupted daily life and commerce throughout the eastern part of the city.

If Prime Minister al-Maliki is the democratically elected head of a sovereign government, he has every right to call for anything his heart desires within his borders. If American troopers are expected to abandon a comrade on the battlefield for fear of disrupting "daily life and commerce," the cue for the leaders of our sovereign government couldn't be clearer. It's time to saddle up for withdrawal and leave the Prime Minister to his own sovereign devices.

There's a big "if" there, of course.

Iraq, after all, isn't a democracy any more than it's sovereign. It's an occupied territory on an apparent road to virtual colonization. Here at home, we can toss up a block on that road in just six days.

By the way, Peter Goldmark needs your help.