>>raq's vice president has asked President Bush for a timeline for the withdrawal of foreign forces from Iraq, the Iraqi president's office said.
Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, a Sunni, made the request during his meeting with Bush on Tuesday, when the U.S. president made a surprise visit to Iraq.
"I supported him in this," President Jalal Talabani said in a statement released Wednesday. Al-Hashimi's representatives could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday. <<
Isn't our position still that we'll leave in the Iraqi government asks us to?
Yes, afaik, that's still our position.
Remember, the ME political mindset isn't as advanced/cynical as the West's is.
This is a political grandstand move intended to convince those with insurgent/terrorist tendencies that the government *isn't* the puppet state that the Islamonazis are saying it is, nothing more. Otherwise, they would be making real demands for us to leave - they *know* we're propping them up until they can stand on their own. And until they can take care of their 'personnel problems' on their own.
If we (and they) can pull this off, this will be the end of the Middle East as we know it.