Our Plan, Git Yer Goddam Hands Off Our Plan

The White House appears to be governing by poll numbers on this one. I welcome their coming around to the sensible belief that troop withdrawal from Iraq is the preferred course at this point. I don't welcome this revisionism that it was their idea all along:

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.

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 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.

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."

McClellan said the White House now saw "a strong consensus" building in Washington in favor of Bush's strategy in Iraq.

Puh-leeze. What was the point of that little "immediate withdrawal" nonsense last week in the House, then? How about the catcalls after Rep. Murtha asked for a 6-month repdeployment to the periphery? Is anyone buying this notion of "No, no, no... see, it was our idea all along!"

This is the kind of idea piracy that made Republicans livid about Clinton. But I think it's a little different. Whereas Clinton would present the idea himself, here the Bush Administration allows someone else to present the idea, gauges the public reaction, and if it's positive, jumps in and says "That was our idea all along!" They did it a lot during the election. It's the behavior of a group who is, dare I say it, out of ideas.

Then, when Iraq sinks into chaos after the implementation of this idea (which is inevitable; there is no magic bullet for getting out of Iraq without the chaos that exists there now, and anyone who tells you otherwise has their head in the clouds), the White House can turn right around and say "See, Sen. Biden's idea didn't work! Typical liberal softness on terror!" It's a particular genius, but one the American people have kind of tuned out after 5 years.