After the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) transferred power to the Iraqi Interim Government on June 28, 2004, President Ghazi al-Yawar “called it ‘a historic, happy day, a day that all Iraqis have been looking forward to…a day we take our country back.’ There was no pomp or circumstance, no marching band or fireworks, no honor guard or grand speeches, no spectators or live television coverage. The Iraqi people didn’t know the handover had occurred until afterward. Everyone had expected it to happen on June 30, but [Director of the CPA L. Paul] Bremer had moved it up, at President Bush’s suggestion, to avoid the risk of an insurgent attack. The ceremony lasted no more than five minutes.”
– Rajiv Chandrasekaran, Imperial Life in the Emerald City, Page 291