Credit where credit’s due, handing over “sovereignty” early was a good idea (though it wasn’t Bush’s idea). I’m sure there’s a lot of car bomb makers that are pissed right now, but I wonder if they’re as pissed as King George is that he’s not going to be able to turn this into a campaign commercial. Hopefully he saved the receipt for his golden chariot and bejeweled crown.

Of course this whole “letting Iraqis control their government” thing is hogwash. The top story on Yahoo has some of the fine print that Bush and co. are hoping you don’t read :

Although the interim government will have full sovereignty, it will operate under major restrictions ? some of them imposed at the urging of the influential Shiite clergy which sought to limit the powers of an unelected administration.

For example, the interim government will only hold power seven months until, as directed by a United Nations Security Council resolution, there must be elections “in no case later than” Jan. 31. The Americans will still hold responsibility for security. And the interim government will not be able to amend the interim constitution. That document outlines many civil liberties guarantees that would make problematic a declaration of emergency.

As Iraq’s highest authority, Bremer had issued more than 100 orders and regulations, many of them Western-style laws governing everything from bankruptcy and traffic, to restrictions on child labor and copying movies.

Some are likely to be ignored. One law requires at least a month in jail for people caught driving without a license ? something many Iraqis do not have. Another demands that drivers stay in a single lane, a rule widely ignored in Iraq’s chaotic streets.

Others are more controversial. On Saturday, Bremer signed an edict that gave U.S. and other Western civilian contractors immunity from Iraqi law while performing their jobs in Iraq. The idea outrages many Iraqis who said the law allows foreigners to act with impunity even after the occupation.

A Bremer elections law restricts certain candidates from running for office, banning parties with links to militias, for instance.

The Coalition Provisional Authority’s laws remain in effect after the occupation ends unless rescinded or revised by the interim government, a task that another Bremer-signed law allows, but only after a difficult process.

It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out in a few weeks. If our guys are still dying over there, will Americans really be willing to accept the “don’t blame me, they’re sovereign” excuse?