The New York Times reports that the Iraq Study Group is going to call for a gradual drawdown of troops in Iraq. Nothing spectacular, mind you, only 15 brigades (or roughly half of all troops stationed there). But, Bush is having none of it.
BUSH: So we’ll be in Iraq until the job is complete, at the request of a sovereign government elected by the people. I know there’s a lot of speculation that these reports in Washington mean there’s going to be some kind of graceful exit out of Iraq. We’re going to stay in Iraq to get the job done, so long as the government wants us there.
We want the people of Iraq to live in a free society. It’s in our interests. In my judgment, if we were to leave before the job is done, it would only embolden terrorists, it would only embolden the extremists. It would dash the hopes of millions of people who want to live in a free society, just like the 12 million people who voted in the Iraqi election. They want to live in a free society. And we support this government, because the government understands it was elected by the people. And Prime Minister Maliki is working hard to overcome the many obstacles in the way to a peaceful Iraq, and we want to help him.
Our President should notice that our Saudi pals are promising to take the fight to this government and its Sadrist allies as soon as we pull out. So, I don’t know how we can simultaneously want Maliki to succeed and be best friends for life with the Saudis. Seems like quite a delicate balancing act. As best as I can tell, the Iraq Study Group is hoping that the threat of a pullout will scare Maliki into stopping the sectarian cleansing (at least within the government’s agencies). And then maybe, if there are ponies, the Saudis won’t feel the need to send in militias of their own to escalate the civil war into an war between states.
So, I guess it is worth asking, “Mr. Maliki, would you please ask your friends to stop cutting off people’s heads and lighting them on fire? It would be ever so much easier for your neighbors to work with you if you could just do us that little favor. Thanks, BooMan.”