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"Victory means exit strategy, and it’s important for the president to explain to us what the exit strategy is." —George W. Bush*
"I think it’s also important for the president to lay out a timetable as to how long they will be involved and when they will be withdrawn." —George W. Bush**
And this lovely exchange from 20070111:
CONDI: ...we're not going to stay married to a plan that isn't working because Iraqis aren't living up to their end of the bargain.
SEN OBAMA: Madam Secretary...Are you telling me that, if in six months or whatever timeframe you are suggesting that in fact the Maliki government has not performed these benchmarks... that at that point you are going to suggest to the Maliki government that we are going to start phasing down our troop levels in Iraq?
CONDI: Senator, I want to be not explicit abvout what we might do, because I don't want to speculate. But I will tell you this: the benchmarks that I'm looking at—the oil law's important, the political process is extraordinarily important—but the most important thing that the Iraqi government has to do right now is to reestablish the confidence of its population that it's going to be evenhanded in defending it. That's what we need to see over the next two or three months, or this plan is not going to work.
SEN OBAMA: The question is not whether the plan is going to work; the question is what the consequences to the Iraqi government... Are there any circumstances that the President or you are willing to share in which we would say to the Iraqis, 'We are no longer maintaining ... American combat troops in Iraq'? Are there any circumstances that you can articulate in which we would say to the Maliki government that enough is enough and we are no longer committing our troops?
CONDI: I'm not going to speculate... but the President made very clear that of course there are circumstances. That's what it means when he says 'Our patience is not limited.'
GOURD: Freudian slip?
----
*, **criticizing President Clinton on *19990409 **19990605 for not setting a timetable for exiting Kosovo.
"I think it’s also important for the president to lay out a timetable as to how long they will be involved and when they will be withdrawn." —George W. Bush**
And this lovely exchange from 20070111:
CONDI: ...we're not going to stay married to a plan that isn't working because Iraqis aren't living up to their end of the bargain.
SEN OBAMA: Madam Secretary...Are you telling me that, if in six months or whatever timeframe you are suggesting that in fact the Maliki government has not performed these benchmarks... that at that point you are going to suggest to the Maliki government that we are going to start phasing down our troop levels in Iraq?
CONDI: Senator, I want to be not explicit abvout what we might do, because I don't want to speculate. But I will tell you this: the benchmarks that I'm looking at—the oil law's important, the political process is extraordinarily important—but the most important thing that the Iraqi government has to do right now is to reestablish the confidence of its population that it's going to be evenhanded in defending it. That's what we need to see over the next two or three months, or this plan is not going to work.
SEN OBAMA: The question is not whether the plan is going to work; the question is what the consequences to the Iraqi government... Are there any circumstances that the President or you are willing to share in which we would say to the Iraqis, 'We are no longer maintaining ... American combat troops in Iraq'? Are there any circumstances that you can articulate in which we would say to the Maliki government that enough is enough and we are no longer committing our troops?
CONDI: I'm not going to speculate... but the President made very clear that of course there are circumstances. That's what it means when he says 'Our patience is not limited.'
GOURD: Freudian slip?
----
*, **criticizing President Clinton on *19990409 **19990605 for not setting a timetable for exiting Kosovo.
