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Input: Even with a deadly car bombing and other mayhem marring the day -- the deadline for the American troop pullback under a Jan. 1 agreement -- Prime Minister Nouri Kamal al-Maliki seized on the occasion to position himself as a proud leader of a country independent at last  looking ahead to the next milestone of parliamentary elections in January.
 He made no mention of American troops in a nationally televised speech  even though nearly 130 000 remain in the country; most had already pulled back from Iraq's cities before Tuesday's deadline.
 In a national address  al-Maliki focused his praise on Iraqi troops and security forces for their role in fighting the insurgency. "The national united government succeeded in putting down the sectarian war that was threatening the unity and the sovereignty of Iraq " he said  as if the United States had played no role.
 President Barack Obama  who ran for office on a pledge to end the war  marked the occasion with minimal fanfare  declaring it "an important milestone" even as he warned of "difficult days ahead."
 "The Iraqi people are rightly treating this day as cause for celebration " he said.
 The withdrawal did not command its own presidential appearance -- his brief remarks were delivered at a ceremony honoring entrepreneurs -- a marked contrast with his predecessor  who rarely missed an opportunity to celebrate milestones in Iraq.
 Military experts anticipate more violence in the days ahead. Maliki's effort to capitalize on Iraq's latent anti-Americanism and to extol the abilities of his troops is a risky strategy. If it turns out that Iraqi troops cannot control the violence  al-Maliki will be vulnerable to criticism from rivals -- both if he has to ask the Americans to return but also if he fails to enforce security without them.
 Some American commanders have said they were taken aback by al-Malikial-Maliki's insistence on taking credit for all the security successes in Iraq  but they also see the importance of having him and Iraqi troops appear strong  especially in the face of multiple insurgent factions intent on destabilizing the government.
 Gen. Raymond T. Odierno brushed aside the dismissive tone of Iraqi leaders' public remarks about the Americans  saying that al-Maliki had personally thanked him on Monday night and again on Tuesday for the sacrifices American troops have made.

IRAQ-ART-1STLD-WRITETHRU-680