If you read the lead of this Washington Post story, you almost think the war, occupation, and handover have been a success:

 New Guard Force Finds Welcome on Streets of Baghdad

BAGHDAD, July 1 -- A large Iraqi flag flapping on his Soviet-era jeep, 1st Lt. Shehab Abdul-Jabbar led an Iraqi National Guard patrol down Baghdad's heavily commercial Karrada Street. As he passed, merchants and shoppers smiled and waved their greetings. "Way to go," one man shouted from behind the small charcoal stove where he was grilling a splayed fish for lunch.

"People are comfortable with this," said Abdul-Jabbar, 38, an officer freshly minted from a U.S.-provided training course for the 35,000-man paramilitary force designed to bring internal security to Iraq.

The Iraqi guardsmen -- venturing out for the last several days in their own vehicles and flying the Iraqi flag conspicuously -- have found a warm welcome from most residents, some of whom have showered them with chocolates....

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Nevertheless, the Iraqi National Guard patrols on Baghdad's streets this week have been small and largely symbolic, mixed with U.S. troops who serve as backup and mentors. Moreover, according to U.S. military officials, only a fraction of the Iraqi National Guard roster has received enough training and equipment to mount even symbolic patrols in the still-dangerous streets of the capital.

Thursday's patrol, for instance, stuck to the Karrada neighborhood, a middle-class stretch of shops and cafes near the Tigris River. Karrada has not been a source of recruits for the anti-occupation insurgency; it is considered one of Baghdad's least dangerous areas for foreigners and Iraqis associated with them....

But even there, soldiers said, patrol members were nervous that they had been ordered to maintain a checkpoint for two hours instead of the usual 20 minutes. That gave plenty of time for would-be attackers to note the position, get their weapons and mount an assault.

Two Humvees from the U.S. Army's 1st Cavalry Division traveled along with Abdul-Jabbar's two Iraqi military vehicles, which carried a total of nine men armed with AK-47 assault rifles. And 1st Lt. Timothy Stith, 32, of Jonesboro, Ark., retained the final say on what to do....

Wake me when they take the training wheels off.