Peace Train

Which candidate would get us out of Iraq quickest? That's pretty simple: Today it was John McCain who reiterated his warning that security conditions must dictate troop withdrawals from Iraq. Barack Obama started saying that the United States should set a timetable to pull its troops out of Iraq to pressure leaders there to establish peace way back in April. This is no big news, since this has been the dividing line between most Democrats and Republicans since the war began. Democrats: soon. Republicans: never.
Well, now you can put the Iraqi government on the "soon" side. The Iraqi timeline proposal appears to set an outer limit, requiring U.S. forces to fully withdraw five years after the Iraqis take the lead on security nationwide. That precondition could itself take years. Some type of agreement is required to keep American troops in Iraq after a U.N. mandate expires on December 31 of this year.
John McCain: "I have always said we will come home with honor and with victory and not through a set timetable."
Barack Obama: "I think it's encouraging ... that the prime minister himself now acknowledges that in cooperation with Iraq, it's time for American forces to start sending out a timeframe for the withdrawal."
Honor and victory, or cooperation?