If I were a Democrat, this would make me a bit uncomfortable: Syria’s Foreign Minister has joined many Democrats in calling for a timetable for the withdrawal of American troops:
Syria’s foreign minister called Sunday for a timetable for the withdrawal of American forces to help end Iraq’s sectarian bloodbath, in a groundbreaking diplomatic mission to Iraq that comes amid increasing calls for the U.S. to seek cooperation from Syria and Iran.
Normally, one wouldn’t assume that Assad’s government has our best interests at heart. But it seems that a deal may be shaping up along the following lines: Syria and Iran agree to do what they can to stop the violence (or at least stop promoting the violence) in Iraq. In exchange, they extract a timetable for our withdrawal. Their promises are unenforceable, but the purported agreement gives the U.S. a fig leaf to cover its withdrawal. In the end, the Iraqis are left to the tender mercies of al Qaeda, the “insurgents,” Iran and Syria, in some unknowable combination.
Actually, that’s not a fig leaf, it’s a G-string, and it’s hard to believe that President Bush, having staked so much on Iraq, would go along with it. But it is also hard to understand events like the leaks from the Baker-Hamilton commission and this pronouncement by Syria without some such concept in the background.
Via Power Line News.
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