Edmund_Dantes:

 Mark:  '  Muqtada al-Sadr has kept the issue in the foreground — and put pressure on the government — by consistently calling for an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops." We now have Muqtada al-Sadr, Al Qaeda in Iraq, and Barack Hussein Obama  all in agreement.'

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I had not heard Senator Obama call for 'immediate withdrawal'.  If you have, supply your link.  If you cannot, will assume you recognize you cannot, as your  statement is false.  

I believe the stated strategy is to schedule drawndowns over a 16-month period, to begin sometime after Obama is sworn in.   That is not "immediate". Its a timetable. And it is, in general terms,  what the democratically elected govt of Iraq wants.

Shall we stay longer than we are wanted? 

Obama wanted all troops out by March of 2008. That's past immediate, that's yesterday, starting 16 months previous. My statement is not false, look it up in your Funk & Wagnals. Now General Obama has stated that he sees no obstacles to withdrawing over a 16 month time period, starting today. I'm sure he can get Wesley Clark to agree with him, even though General Petraeus does not. Since Petraeus is the architect of the strategy that has worked, it's a sure bet Obama won't agree with him. I'm also certain that Al Qaeda will look forward to Obama's latest cut and run timetable, as will Muqtada al-Sadr. You people on the Left are a hoot. Last year your party, and Obama, was saying Iraq was a failure and the strategy wouldn't work and we should get out now. Today you are saying Iraq is in such fine shape, we can be out of there in 16 months, no problem. You were wrong a year ago, and you are wrong now. Obama is clueless, he just wants to be President.

Mark