I’m sure there are members of the media and left (but I repeat myself) who will attempt to credit this to Obama’s plan for Iraq, but the military is actually meeting a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) negotiated and approved back in 2008.

It’s quite remarkable, really. As James Joyner says, the headline for the handover itself would’ve seemed like a dream not too long ago. But the surge and stabilization we’ve witnessed in the past 2 years has made the hand-over possible.

A countdown clock broadcast on Iraqi TV ticked to zero as the midnight deadline passed for U.S. combat troops to finish their pullback to bases outside cities.

“The withdrawal of American troops is completed now from all cities after everything they sacrificed for the sake of security,” said Sadiq al-Rikabi, a senior adviser to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. “We are now celebrating the restoration of sovereignty.”

As they should. Even the craziest aspects of the world can now see that the United States’ goal was never the permanent occupation of the Republic of Iraq, but rather the establishment of a stable, democratic government that would be beholden to its citizens.

Fireworks, not bombings, colored the Baghdad skyline late Monday, and thousands attended a party in a park where singers performed patriotic songs. Loudspeakers at police stations and military checkpoints played recordings of similar tunes throughout the day, as Iraqi military vehicles decorated with flowers and national flags patrolled the capital.

“All of us are happy — Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds on this day,” Waleed al-Bahadili said as he celebrated at the park. “The Americans harmed and insulted us too much.”

Of course, there are still those who hold onto anti-American feelings, people on whom irony is lost. al-Bahadili is able to stand there, speaking his mind freely because of the actions of American troops. And he uses that opportunity to complain about the Americans. Oy vey.

In a ceremony rich with symbolism, the top U.S. military commander in Baghdad, Maj. Gen. Daniel Bolger, gave his Iraqi counterpart the keys to the former defense ministry building, which had served as a joint base.

“On the eve of the 30th of June 2009 in accord with a security agreement between Iraq and America, Iraqis take the lead in Baghdad,” Bolger said.

The withdrawal, required under a U.S.-Iraqi security pact, marks the first major step toward withdrawing all American forces from the country by Dec. 31, 2011. Obama has said all combat troops will be gone by the end of August 2010.

How the president intends to accomplish that isn’t clear, of course. More than 130,000 American troops remain in the country with about 14 months left until Obama’s deadline. Military planners have already declared a 16-month withdrawal period an impossible deadline to meet.

Anyway, this is a great sign for the future of Iraq. Now is the time to pray that the relative peace holds.