Iraqi Government to US: It's been fun but now it's time for you to go.
Maybe this time we'll actually take their advice.
From Newsweek:
Man, this will be some spectacle. It's going to be entertaining to see how the GOP will finesse this, seeing as how they have spent the last few weeks deriding Democrats as "soft on terror" and "cut and runners". It would seem those labels may also be applied to our new allies in the "war on terror".
But what choice does Bush and the GOP really have? If we are asked to leave by the first permanent government of Iraq (something which was always claimed to be a prerequisite for our eventual exit), how can we say no? To do otherwise would give lie to Iraq's supposed sovereignty. And if they agree to this plan, they would just be handing the Dems fodder for the mid-terms.
More on this from TPM, Kevin Drum, Greg Sargent, The Heretik, BooMan, Shakes, and Billmon.
From Newsweek:
A timetable for withdrawal of occupation troops from Iraq. Amnesty for all insurgents who attacked U.S. and Iraqi military targets. Release of all security detainees from U.S. and Iraqi prisons. Compensation for victims of coalition military operations.
Those sound like the demands of some of the insurgents themselves, and in fact they are. But they're also key clauses of a national reconciliation plan drafted by new Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who will unveil it Sunday. The provisions will spark sharp debate in Iraq - but the fiercest opposition is likely to come from Washington, which has opposed any talk of timetables, or of amnesty for insurgents who have attacked American soldiers.
Man, this will be some spectacle. It's going to be entertaining to see how the GOP will finesse this, seeing as how they have spent the last few weeks deriding Democrats as "soft on terror" and "cut and runners". It would seem those labels may also be applied to our new allies in the "war on terror".
But what choice does Bush and the GOP really have? If we are asked to leave by the first permanent government of Iraq (something which was always claimed to be a prerequisite for our eventual exit), how can we say no? To do otherwise would give lie to Iraq's supposed sovereignty. And if they agree to this plan, they would just be handing the Dems fodder for the mid-terms.
More on this from TPM, Kevin Drum, Greg Sargent, The Heretik, BooMan, Shakes, and Billmon.
