Either Rueters fucked up the quote, or the context, or the Iraqi PM just declared "victory" over the United States as an occupying force in his country, and it didn't even make the headline, or opening paragraphs of this story :
Naturally, these were the last two paragraphs of a story about a truck bombing in Iraq, killing dozens. Burying the lead, indeed.Maliki, a Shi'ite, said the start of the U.S. withdrawal was a "great victory" for Iraq over foreign occupation.
"I, and you, are sure that many don't want us to succeed and celebrate this victory," he said. "They are getting themselves ready to move in the dark to destabilize the situation, but we will be ready for them, God willing."
The War On Iraq really is over....well, kind of :
Almost all U.S. soldiers will leave urban centers by June 30 under a security pact signed by Baghdad and Washington last year, and the whole force that invaded the country in 2003 must be gone by 2012.
