The NY Times is reporting that the result of a conference between rival Iraqi groups was a consensus that there should be a timetable for withdrawal of foreign troops:
The participants in Cairo agreed on ''calling for the withdrawal of foreign troops according to a timetable, through putting in place an immediate national program to rebuild the armed forces ... control the borders and the security situation'' and end terror attacks.
''The Iraqi people are looking forward to the day when the foreign forces will leave Iraq, when its armed and security forces will be rebuilt and when they can enjoy peace and stability and get rid of terrorism,'' the statement said.
Now, according to the Bush administration, the Iraqis themselves are "emboldening" the terrorists with this language? Because, if you recall, every time the word "timetable" is uttered a suicide bomber gets his wings--er, bombs.
More below the flip.
The notion that even discussing the pulldown of foreign troops has a direct impact on the intensity of terrorist attacks in the region is obviously just another facet of the fearmongering that the administration has perfected over the last years. Acting as if the first rule ofFight Club was the basis for a sound foreign policy, the new GOP talking point is that the mere excersing of our First Amendment rights is betraying the War on Terror. Rumsfeld put it like this:
The enemy hears a big debate in the United States, and they have to wonder: 'Maybe all we have to do is wait and we'll win. We can't win militarily.' They know that. The battle is here in the United States," Rumsfeld said on "Fox News Sunday.
So terrorists, according to Rumsfeld, think if they wait it out they'll win. But isn't that the same exact strategy the Bush administration is endorsing by arguing against a timetable for withdrawal? Aren't we, by sitting on our hands and waiting for things to keep 'turning a corner' in Iraq, transforming this battle not into one where the mighter power wins because of principle and strategy, but one where the side with the least endurance wins?
This type of "let's have a staring contest and see who blinks" strategy has not worked, and will not work in Iraq. The administration won't listen to sound military minds like Murtha. The administration won't listen to the majority of the American people. Maybe the administration should listen to the Iraqis themselves, who today proclaimed in unified voice that a timetable is needed. Without one, this war cannot be won.
Crossposted at POLITICAL CORTEX