Timetables Will Only Embolden the Enemy

So why are the leaders of Iraq demanding one?

Iraqi leaders, meeting at a reconciliation conference in Cairo, urged an end to violence in the country and demanded a timetable for the withdrawal of coalition troops from Iraq.

In a final statement, read by Arab League chief Amre Moussa, host of the three-day summit, they called for "the withdrawal of foreign troops according to a timetable, through putting in place an immediate national program to rebuild the armed forces.'' No date was specified.

"The Iraqi people look forward to the day when the foreign forces leave Iraq, when it's armed and security forces will be rebuilt and when they can enjoy peace and stability and get rid of terrorism,'' the leaders said in the statement. The session was broadcast live from the Egyptian capital by al-Jazeera.

Don't you think Iraqis might have a better sense of how to best run their own country than The Boy In the Plastic Bubble?

I also agree with Jack Murtha (and he repeated this on his Meet the Press appearance yesterday) that the Iraqis have no reason to stand up and fight as long as we're doing the fighting (and the dying) for them. It kind of shows a contempt for the Iraqi people, situated at the cradle of civilization and at it for thousands of years, that they are irretrievably hurtling toward chaos the moment we leave. Maybe if they don't view themselves as crushed under the boot of an occupier, they will move to diplomacy and end the violence. I don't know realistically if you can solve intractable issues of religion through diplomacy, however.

Ultimately, as others have said, the realist would look at Iraq and say either we lose and our Army is broken, or we just lose. I've long stated that we've probably passed the "good solution" milepost in Iraq. All further solutions will be bad for somebody. But with Iraqis in the lead, at least there will be a chance, and no rallying cry for the insurgency of "Remove the occupying infidels!"