Bush's New Withdrawal Plan
White House lays foundation for US troop withdrawal
Sun Nov 27, 2:25 PM ET
The White House for the first time has claimed possession 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.…The statement late Saturday 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."
According to Biden, the United States will move about 50,000 servicemen out of the country by the end of 2006, and "a significant number" of the remaining 100,000 the year after.
The blueprint also calls for leaving only an unspecified "small force" either in Iraq or across the border to strike at concentrations of insurgents, if necessary.In the White House statement, which was released under the headline "Senator Biden Adopts Key Portions Of Administration's Plan For Victory In Iraq," McClellan said the administration of President George W. Bush welcomed Biden's voice in the debate.
"Today, Senator Biden described a plan remarkably similar to the administration's plan to fight and win the war on terror," the spokesman went on to say.…Even though Bush has never publicly issued his own withdrawal plan and criticized calls for an early exit, the White House said many of the ideas expressed by the senator were its own.
Interesting how Biden can “adopt” a plan no one has seen before - I guess he’s clairvoyant. Of course, we all knew this was coming, the question was just how soon before November 2006. After all, BushCo can’t let their little foreign adventure endanger Republican control of both Houses. There might be some real Congressional oversight and exposure of the depth of cronyism, corporatism and incompetence in this administration. Two years of that and the Democrats might just win all the marbles.
I am amazed at the way this administration continues to execute abrupt about-faces without missing a beat. Remember the Department of Homeland Security, or Katrina, when Brownie went from a “heck of a job” to jobless in short order? Or Rep. Murtha going from "endorsing the policy positions of Michael Moore” to statesman in a matter of two days? These from a President who “doesn’t read the polls” - I guess he has Rove read them to him, like a bed-time story (or, lately, a tale of horror). But so much for “stay the course”. Naturally, the cover story remains:
McClellan added that as Iraqi security forces gain strength and experience, "we can lessen our troop presence in the country without losing our capability to effectively defeat the terrorists."
So we’re back to “training the Iraqis”, “stand down as they stand up” - they must have suddenly become honor students in the last few days.
What brought this on? Maybe Rep. Murtha’s statements and the responses to it were seen as a watershed, making the administration finally realize that their position had become completely untenable - and dangerous, as Republicans might start jumping ship in droves, a la the recent desertion of moderates on the budget bill. Not to mention the 2006 elections.
The real question is, can the administration defuse the Iraq war as an issue within the next year?
