Those Iraqi evildoers talk tough...

A coalition of insurgent groups has vowed to take over cities vacated by U.S. troops, and warned of "harsh consequences" for Iraqis who resist....

"America is getting ready to withdraw its forces from our country with its tail between its legs ... pressured by rockets and explosive devices," the statement said....

Despite the threats, U.S. officials have expressed confidence Iraqi police will be able to handle the security situation....

The U.S. Army has said it will gradually reduce its presence in Iraqi cities and hand over control to Iraqi security forces. The Army has so far given a detailed withdrawal plan only for the capital, Baghdad, which it envisages to be virtually free of U.S. troops by May....

But our well-trained Iraqi replacements will kick their butts! Right?

Er ... right?

The men of Bravo Company hold an important distinction: They are the first members of the Iraqi civil defense forces to be sent out on their own in Baghdad. But the first three weeks of that experiment have left them exasperated.

At the start of this week, despite what they said were repeated requests to the U.S. battalion that is supposed to support them, they were working without radios, bulletproof vests, gasoline, furniture or a functioning vehicle.

"We go on our patrols every day," Capt. Haider Salah, the unit's commander, said Tuesday. "But we go without radios or vests. . . . Even the pens and paper are from home."

U.S. officials frequently hail the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps, a paramilitary force akin to a national guard, as the cornerstone of U.S. plans to transfer security tasks to Iraqis. Sending Bravo Company, part of the 36th Iraqi Civil Defense Corps, to live and work without any U.S. soldiers by their side was to be a major test of the plan to train and deploy 40,000 such troops across the country by May. And Bravo's experience is a testament to the challenges ahead....

OK, OK -- never mind.