Never Leaving

Even if the war ends, the US isn't leaving Iraq. Understand this, and the Bush administration starts looking a lot more "competent", at least by their own measures:

June 28 (Bloomberg) -- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, asked about a report that Sunni insurgents have made a conditional offer to halt attacks in Iraq, said the U.S. won't set a timetable for withdrawing troops from the country.

The Associated Press today said 11 Sunni insurgent groups offered to stop attacks on U.S.-led military forces in Iraq if the Iraqi government and President George W. Bush set a two-year deadline for withdrawing all foreign troops.

Rumsfeld told reporters that while he hadn't seen the report, ``the president's view has been and remains that a timetable is not something that is useful.'' A schedule for a pullout ``is a signal to the enemies that all you have to do is just wait and it's yours,'' he said.

Guess what Don? They already know that, with a little time - and the occasional suicide bombing, Iraq will be theirs. And you can't stop that. So why not try and stop the killing now, rather than when you eventually get kicked out?

Because Rumsfeld, Bush, and Cheney don't want to leave. Simple as that.

(story via Atrios.)