For years American and British leaders alike have insisted that a timetable for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq was not practical.

Now they have to concede that the Iraqis do not want foreign troops on their soil. All American forces will be gone in three years, the British even sooner.

At one level this is a triumph in that it is precisely what the Bush Administration wanted in Iraq – a viable, democratic and independent government capable of making its own decisions and taking on greater responsibility for security.

That one of the first major steps taken by the Iraqis is to show the foreigners the door should come as no surprise. Iraqis are fiercely nationalistic. They lost their faith in the ability of US-led forces to solve their problems long ago.

In the coming months Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi Prime Minister, will seek to reassert Iraqi sovereignty over major cities. There is bound to be sectarian violence. Neighbours such as Iran will doubtless step up their interference in Iraq’s affairs. Fresh problems, like the Kurdish question, will loom even larger.

Iraq’s fledgeling government may struggle to cope, amid political bickering, corruption and incompetence. But Iraqi solutions will increasingly have to be found for Iraqi problems.

The only positive outcome for America is that a conflict that once threatened to hobble the new Administration now looks decidedly less threatening.

Thousands of US troops will continue to serve in Iraq under President Obama, but there is now a flicker of light at the end of the tunnel.

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