The convoy will be protected and the path they travel is through much of Anbar province, where Al Qaeda has been decimated. The terorists no longer have the infrastructure in place to mount the kind of attacks they were doing before. The locals are pointing out the foreigners (who are usually the fodder for the suicide bombs) so the terrorist have no place in Anbar to hide anymore. I was reading an article about OBL’s missive last month about how Al Qaeda had made mistakes in Iraq and needed to regroup and change their tactics to get the locals on their side. I think the non-arab press has really missed the significance of that message. To many Jihadists and Iraqis, it was almost a declaration of surrender, for it was the FIRST time OBL has admitted any mistakes. The loss of face he suffered in the eyes of his supporters was huge, and to the Iraqis, it was a sign that AL Qaeda was losing big time. That is why the people are returning, they know the Americans and their Iraqi allies have won.
I think what you say is right, milwguy, but I also believe there are enough crazies around to look for a target of opportunity like a large caravan from Syria which just rams their failure right down their throats.
So I worry...which is like me :)