So I guess life must be getting truly weird in Wing Nut Land.
White House claims 'strong consensus' on Iraq pullout
The White House has for the first time claimed ownership of an Iraq withdrawal plan, arguing that a troop pullout blueprint unveiled this past week by a Democratic senator was "remarkably similar" to its own.
It also signaled its acceptance of a recent US Senate amendment designed to pave the way for a phased US military withdrawal from the violence-torn country.
The statement by White House spokesman Scott McClellan came in response to a commentary published in The Washington Post by Joseph Biden, the top Democrat of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in which he said US forces will begin leaving Iraq next year "in large numbers."
Glory be! What took them so long?
The 403-3 vote on the counterfeit Murtha resolution was simply "covering fire" so that Bush could get on with it.
But here's a question: if we're going to "declare victory and come home," what should victory look like? How about if we can do the following within the next 12 months? If so, I'll give Bush the spoils:
- There is a stable, democratic government in Iraq -- no mullahs in charge of the Supreme Court, no Islamic Republic, no quasi-post-Yugoslavia partitioning of Iraq.
- No more insurgent attacks against the US or the Iraqi government.
- The majority of our troops have come home, and no permanent American base in Iraq is established.
- Saddam has been tried, convicted and executed.
I'd call that victory and I'd give Bush credit for getting it done.In between now and then we need to see steady progress toward those goals. We need Bush to tell us how those goals are going to be achieved, and we need him to report regularly to the American people on progress toward those goals.
"...US forces will begin leaving Iraq next year 'in large numbers' "
=> maybe he meant, in coffins.