So Senate and the House Republicans seem pretty united that a time table for withdrawal of our men and women from Bush's Iraqi quagmire would be a bad idea. Why, it would be a sell out, bordering on treasonous assistance to the terrorists and an insult to the casualties of Bush's war. Bully for them, and as the traditional media reports in breathless glowing detail, that's a sign of
strength. By golly those republicans are going to turn a major liability into a political advantage under the exceptional tutelage of Master Karl Rove:
Link--The U.S. House has voted in favor of not setting a timetable for troops to be removed from Iraq. After the vote, West Michigan Congressman, Pete Hoekstra, appeared on Fox News Channel to talk about the difference between the Democrats and the Republicans in their views on the war.
And the DoD has signed right on the dotted line:
Rumsfeld: Iraq Timetable wouldn't 'do any good':--As for a timetable for troop withdrawal, Rumsfeld said that timetables are often wrong. "Once you start doing that, then you are stuck with a number and a date, and it just doesn't do any good," he said.
Oops:
Link--The Iraq government is planning to offer an amnesty to Sunni insurgents as part of a comprehensive peace package that authorities hope will ward off civil war.
The Government will also offer a timetable for American troop withdrawal, stop US operations targeting insurgents, and clamp down on violations of human rights abuses, according to a 28-page deal reported by the Times. Such moves are likely to raise serious concerns in Washington, which has so far steadfastly refused to name a date for scaling down its presence in Iraq, and will not want its personnel under Iraqi jurisdiction.
I don't know if this is accurate or old news or just plain bunk. I'm not sure if a timetable is the way to go. Although, surely some kind of benchmark would be useful to measure the progress we're assured is being made. You know, if you wanna stay the course, it's always nice to make sure you're actually on course, take a sextant reading or glance at a GPS marker every so often.
But just for fun, stipulating that this report is indeed accurate, it appears to be saying the duly elected, purple finger waving, freedom loving, democratic government of Iraq is about to offer amnesty for insurgents who killed US soldiers and a time table for US withdrawal. Oh, and in the meantime, maybe there will be protected insurgent strongholds that US forces cannot enter or some kind of Iraqi veto over US action. If so, that's going to go over well in Koolaid swilling corners, huh? Take the poll below.