The Daily Background
| WHOA: Iraq Study Group to include withdrawl deadline after all?!
by Arlen Parsa
On the heels of today’s bombshell NYT article reavealing that the Iraq Study Group will call for combat troop withdrawl, the Washington Post reports tomorrow that the Group will suggest a deadlline, contrary to what the Times had suggested yesterday (the group had considered having a deadline, but couldn’t agree on one, according to the NYT). The Post reports:
The bipartisan Iraq Study Group plans to recommend withdrawing nearly all U.S. combat units from Iraq by early 2008 while leaving behind troops to train, advise and support the Iraqis, setting the first goal for a major drawdown of U.S. forces, sources familiar with the proposal said yesterday.
Wow. The President will not be happy with this at all. And the ISG’s reasoning?
The call to pull out combat brigades by early 2008 would be more a conditional goal than a firm timetable, predicated on the assumption that circumstances on the ground would permit it, according to the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the commission’s report will not be released until next week. But panel members concluded that it is vital to set a target to put pressure on Iraqi leaders to do more to assume responsibility for the security of their country.
Isn’t that pretty much exactly what leading Democrats have been saying for a year now? If true, this will be quite soemthing.
