Saturday, June 24, 2006

OUR TIMETABLE IS GOOD, YOUR TIMETABLE IS TREASON

From The New York Times:

The top American commander in Iraq has drafted a plan that projects sharp reductions in the United States military presence there by the end of 2007, with the first cuts coming this September, American officials say.

According to a classified briefing at the Pentagon this week by the commander, Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the number of American combat brigades in Iraq is projected to decrease to 5 or 6 from the current level of 14 by December 2007.

Under the plan, the first reductions would involve two combat brigades that would rotate out of Iraq in September without being replaced. Combat brigades, which generally have about 3,500 troops, do not make up the bulk of the 127,000-member American force in Iraq....


Oh.

So I guess all that talk about timetables "emboldening the enemy" is no longer operative, right?

(Yeah, I know: according to the rest of the article, this is just a plan for a timetable. It's supposed to be conditional -- we'll only do it if, among other things, the insurgents mellow out. But why, if I were an insurgent, would I think I could continue to fight while waiting out a Democratic timetable but not think I could stop fighting temporarily while waiting out a Bush administration timetable?)

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