Bush's Timetable for Withdrawal

President Bush brushes off timetables for withdrawing from Iraq as only benefiting the enemy.

But guess who's pushing for timetables: Bush's top generals.

And guess who's following them: President Bush.

These are the very timetables President Bush's biggest critics support. And as much as President Bush likes to criticize timetables -- he's relying on them to pull off his new Iraq strategy.

The Washington Post points out that the top brass have already drawn up timetables for reducing troop strength from 160,000 to just 100,000 in Iraq next year. The Senate endorsed the timetable a couple of weeks back on a 79-19 vote. And the "National Strategy for Victory in Iraq" that President Bush unveiled Wednesday rely on those timetables.

But the Post editorial suggests that the latest plan -- like other administration approaches to the war -- is overly optimistic:

"Now, once again, the strategy supposes a series of successes in the next 12
months that approach the miraculous..."

There are a lot of things that can go wrong that would upset President Bush's timetable for withdrawal.