A top U.S. military commander said yesterday he will remove U.S. forces from the palaces of toppled leader Saddam Hussein and has ordered the military to hand over Baghdad International Airport within a year.

The move to leave the palaces is designed to counter the view that Saddam's government has been replaced by U.S. soldiers occupying the same opulent seats of power. The U.S.-led occupation is scheduled to hand over sovereignty to Iraqis at the end of June, and U.S.-led forces are trying to encourage the impression that Iraqis are increasingly governing and policing themselves.(via the Seattle Times)

Even our grandmothers could have told the Pentagon that moving U.S. troops into Saddam Hussein’s palaces - symbols of privilege and dictatorship – was a bad idea. Apparently, no one in the Bush administration stopped to think that the sight of American soldiers splashing in Saddam’s swimming pools might fan the flames of anti-Americanism among the Iraqis.

But then, these are the same people who brought us the war in the first place. They're still scratching their heads wondering where all the 'we welcome you with open arms' Iraqis are.