Too Little, Too Late?

Bush Vows To Speed Iraq Security Handover - 30 Nov 2006 at 8:21am - President Bush has told Iraq's leader that the U.S. will work to quicken its turnover of security in the war-torn country to domestic forces, and will increase support for those forces to make it happen.

Bush has been saying for a long time now that the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq is contingent upon Iraqi forces' ability to stand on their own. So why wait until now to concentrate on training and equipping the Iraqi security system? What percentage of U.S. military forces currently deployed in Iraq are devoted to training Iraq's military?

Bush backs Iraq PM, says no U.S. "graceful exit" - 30 Nov 2006 at 11:06am - AMMAN (Reuters) - President Bush strongly backed Iraq's prime minister on Thursday, saying Iraqi forces would be prepared more quickly to take over security and that Washington was not looking for a "graceful exit".

What he may actually be after is a "face-saving exit" -- probably something more like "machismo-preserving exit".

Iraq Panel To Call For Gradual Pullback - 30 Nov 2006 at 8:11am - A bipartisan commission next week will unveil long-awaited recommendations for a new U.S. policy in Iraq that reports said would call for a gradual pullback of U.S. troops there " without a timetable " and direct diplomacy with Iran and Syria.

No timetable -- but...

Iraqi forces can take over by June 2007, says PM - 30 Nov 2006 at 2:25pm - AMMAN (Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Thursday his government's forces would be able to take over security command from U.S. troops by June 2007 -- a move which could allow the United States to start withdrawing.

U.S. repudiates analyst's jab at Britain - 30 Nov 2006 at 2:46pm - WASHINGTON -- The State Department repudiated on Thursday comments by a veteran department analyst who said that British Prime Minister Tony Blair's relationship with the United States was "totally one-sided" in Washington's favor.

Humans must colonize other planets: Hawking - 30 Nov 2006 at 8:39am - LONDON (Reuters) - Humans must colonize planets in other solar systems traveling there using "Star Trek"-style propulsion or face extinction, renowned British cosmologist Stephen Hawking said on Thursday.

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Iraq policy, Stephen Hawking