Future Iraq Withdrawal

Why is everyone in the MSM so surprised by this?

President Bush suggested yesterday that US troops might stay in Iraq beyond his presidency, which ends in 2009, saying at a press conference that the issue of removing troops from the country ''will be decided by future presidents and future governments of Iraq."

and

Asked whether his comments signaled that a complete pullout would not happen during the three remaining years of his presidency, Bush said the decision would be left up to the generals ''on the ground" in Iraq.

Bush's comments -- widely seen as an attempt to shift public expectations away from the notion of a quick pullout -- dovetailed with comments yesterday by Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain, the leading US ally in the war.

Where has the expectation of a quick pullout come from? Do these people even have a concept of what is going on there?

Maybe they have gotten the idea from the "cut-and-run" crowd led by Murtha. But I'm constantly amazed that these people don't have any concept of history surrounding wars. How many years did it take to fully withdraw from Germany or Japan? How about South Korea?

Then there is Helen Thomas. Why does a columnist get to pontificate at a Presidential press conference? And why did Bush call on her?

Yesterday, the president appeared intense when he was asked to explain why he decided to attack Iraq.

''No president wants war -- everything you may have heard is that, but it's just simply not true," Bush declared, bristling at a question from longtime White House correspondent Helen Thomas, who writes for King Features Syndicate.

He chided Thomas for interrupting him after he repeated his longstanding argument that the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks justified aggressive action in Iraq. While some administration officials have sought to tie Hussein to the attacks, the White House has said the former Iraqi president had nothing to do with them.

Note the BGlob seems to ignore the exchange except for the interruptions. After seeing the exchange on the news, it was more than apparent that Helen wasn't getting the answer she wanted so she decided that she needn't continue listening to the answer and must put forth here view of why Bush was so screwed up.

Well, it was mildly entertaining.