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Old 05-10-2007, 09:48 AM   #46 (permalink)
ubertuber
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Ace, here's hoping you are correct. The Washington Post reports that Bush is suddenly willing to talk about benchmarks:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Washington Post article, linked above
Bush Seeks Compromise on Iraq Benchmarks

By ANNE FLAHERTY
The Associated Press
Thursday, May 10, 2007; 1:33 PM

WASHINGTON -- President Bush, under growing political pressure, agreed Thursday to negotiate with Congress on a war-spending bill that sets benchmarks for progress in Iraq.

The turnabout in Bush's position came as Republicans expressed anxieties about the war and the House was expected to pass legislation that would cut off funding for U.S. troops as early as July.   click to show 
The cynical side of me thinks that Bush realizes that if he gets to participate in making the benchmarks, there is a chance to set them up to be meaningless or easily distorted. Still, there's probably no other way to go about this, so any step may be a step in the right direction.

I think Bush almost certainly realizes that funding without strings that has to be renewed every few months is an invitation to a political bloodbath. Benchmarks are the best deal he is likely to get. If the troops ran out of money in the face of multiple vetoes, it will be much harder to spin things to blame the lack of money solely on the Dems.
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