The Issue? Withdrawal: how to do it, when to do it and whether it's the right thing to do. One person has a more multi-layered approach; he's trying to reconcile reality with necessity. The other sees the whole issue as black-and-white: there's only two choices, and the one that isn't his is the weak one.
Can you guess who took what position? Of course you can...
Iraqi VP Tareq al-Hashemi on the conditions of withdrawal:
Hashemi, speaking in English, welcomed a timetable for a withdrawal of U.S. forces but said it needed to be coupled with a clear reform plan of Iraqi national forces.
"If we say that we need one year, one and a half years or even two years to go into a detailed, comprehensive reform for MOD (Ministry of Defence) and MOI (Ministry of Interior) units, we need the coalition forces to stay until this job has been fulfilled," he said.
"If the American troops pull out, withdraw, before we complete this plan, there is a possibility that the country might slide into chaos and the chaos could lead to a civil war," he said, adding that it could also lead to regional unrest.
President George W. Bush on the conditions of withdrawal:
"It can be tempting to look at the challenges in Iraq and conclude our best option is to pack up and go home. That may be satisfying in the short run, but I believe the consequences for American security would be devastating.
"If American forces were to step back from Baghdad before it is more secure, a contagion of violence could spill out across the entire country. In time, this violence could engulf the region.
"The terrorists could emerge from the chaos with a safe haven in Iraq to replace the one they had in Afghanistan, which they used to plan the attacks of September 11th 2001. For the safety of the American people, we cannot allow this to happen."
Both believe that early withdrawal spells doom for Iraq and the region. Both don't seem to think that Iraq's in a state of civil war (yet).
Where do they differ? "Timetables."
Hashemi believes that timetables can help move progress along. He doesn't seem to think that they're evil or anything, he only advises against leaving if those timetables aren't met.
Bush? Well, we know his line: timetables let the "enemy" know what we're doing. Unlike the press conferences or news channels or websites that talk about various strategies, troop numbers and operation names. Yeah. Can't let that happen.
I could go into how Bush once again tied 9/11 to Iraq, how the Taliban is becoming relevent again in Afghanistan. But really; what's the point?