Posted on 11/29/2006 7:33:06 PM PST by jmc1969
The bipartisan Iraq Study Group reached a consensus on Wednesday on a final report that will call for a gradual pullback of the 15 American combat brigades now in Iraq but stop short of setting a firm timetable for their withdrawal, according to people familiar with the panels deliberations.
The report, unanimously approved by the 10-member panel, led by James A. Baker III and Lee H. Hamilton, is to be delivered to President Bush next week. It is a compromise between distinct paths that the group has debated since March, avoiding a specific timetable, which has been opposed by Mr. Bush, but making it clear that the American troop commitment should not be open-ended. The recommendations of the group, formed at the request of members of Congress, are nonbinding.
A person who participated in the commissions debate said that unless the government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki believed that Mr. Bush was under pressure to pull back troops in the near future, there will be zero sense of urgency to reach the political settlement that needs to be reached.
The report recommends that Mr. Bush make it clear that he intends to start the withdrawal relatively soon, and people familiar with the debate over the final language said the implicit message was that the process should begin sometime next year.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Damn it to hell....Bush is still the President and needs to act like it...tell these assholes to stuff their freaking ideas.
THEY WERE NOT ELECTED TO MAKE THESE KINDS OF DECISIONS!!!!!
Yes I'm pissed....I have had enough!
I received the following quote earlier and I thought it appropriate to the recent political disgrace, namely Nancy Pelosi and her gang of traitors:
"If you will not fight for the right when you can easily win without bloodshed, if you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not so costly, you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance for survival. There may be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no chance of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves."
-Churchill
And what is the point of delaying the release of the report when its contents are leaked now?
Hasn't this really kinda been the plan all along?
The die I think is near cast. There will be very substantial changes, and soon in Iraq, is my guess. Iraq's leadership will have to decide soon whether it wants partition or not, and do what it needs to stop it. Otherwise, it will just happen.
Didn't the President say yesterday that he wasn't withdrawing any troops until the country is stable.....damn it, I'm pissed too!
Yes, this has been Bush's plan for about the last two years.
They pre-leak it prior to release to increase public acceptance of its conclusions as being conventional wisdom.
She is not making any foreign policy decisions. The (Republican-dominated) Congress asked for her input (along with other commissioners), which they and the President will consider as another set of eyes with the best interest of the US in mind.
I had a meeting today with liberals. What pea-heads these people are.
They have no clue what the hell is going on out there.
Looks like Poppy's cronies are calling the shots...
What Iraqi leadership?
The fact is the Iraqi leader we are backing right now is far too weak, we should be giving him one last chance at getting rid of Sadr or getting replaced.
Iraq needs a strongman and if Maliki isn't up to the task we need someone else. To hell with Iraqi democracy for the time being. We are fighting to make sure our mortal enemies don't carve up Iraq.
Bush has surrendered his right to call the shots. Where is he?? Its really quite sad. Has anyone witnessed such a complete undressing of a Presidency? He will be the first President forced to go through a re-education camp by the time they are done with him.
After all, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and their other partners in crime know what is best for us.
(BARF)
That's an excellent point. By next week, pundits will be breathlessly saying about the report's recommendations, "As we all know, we need to do such-and-such but is President Bush willing to do it...?"
If the troops are withdrawn, will the insurgents stop their murderous rampage?
Should we care what happens to Iraq in the future?
Is it possible to choose the right strategy?
Will the president listen to his gut, or to the liberal sucophants?
The media is going to treat this report like the 911 Commission Report and bash us over the head with it.
Did we ever leave Europe, East Asia, Korea, Bosnia, Kosovo, or Haiti? I'm all for an open-ended commitment. It's the only way we will convince our adversaries we're serious. When we leave, they will take it as our defeat. And we will leave a vacuum to be filled with who knows what, as happened in Afghanistan.
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