The insurgent parade in Ramadi

I mentioned this on Saturday, but it sounds like it was far bigger than I'd ever imagined. Now that the Anbar presence has been depleted by pulling troops into Baghdad, just how little control does the US have?

Iraqi rebels have conducted a military parade in the city of Ramad, west of Baghdad, to mark the setting up of what they call ‘the Islamic Emirate’ of Iraq.

The parade was organized by Majlis Shora al-Mujahideen, the Mujahideen Shora Council, in which thousands of fighters and hundreds of vehicles took part....

The parade continued for two consecutive days last week (Thursday and Friday), residents said.....

Other major towns west of Baghdad are also said to be in rebel hands.

In one the outskirts of Haditha, for example, fighting is reported to be raging between U.S. troops and the rebels who have barricaded themselves inside the city.

They are lying in ambush and waiting for U.S. troops to enter the city, the witnesses said.

Also: This snippet caught my eye.

The outcome of a White House meeting Saturday among Bush and his top security and military officials could become clearer early next week when Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, and Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, are scheduled to conduct an unusual joint news conference in Baghdad.

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Later: The US is also reportedly offering amnesty to those same Sunni fighters above as part of a secret negotiation.