Michael Abramowitz sez that the president is setting himself up for a drawdown of troops. I guess maybe that could be true, if it’s true that troop rotations will force a drawdown in April. But appearances are everything.
Leon E. Panetta, a Clinton White House chief of staff and a member of the Iraq Study Group, said yesterday that the president does not want to be seen as being forced into anything — but can now claim that military progress makes it possible to begin a process of withdrawal.
“All along, that’s been his biggest problem: feeling comfortable that he’s winning and can begin a process of pulling back,” Panetta said in an interview. “I think he knows what he wants to do, but he has to feel comfortable that he got there ‘my way.'”
Does Panetta believe this crap, or is he just commenting on Bush’s delusions?
