# Dubya says Iraq pullout is up to "future presidents". **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 22, 2006, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dubya-says-iraq-pullout-is-up-to-future-presidents/349453 "2006-03-22T17:32:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dubya-says-iraq-pullout-is-up-to-future-presidents/349453/21 "2006-03-22T19:12:05Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Absolutely wrong. He has effectively now announced \*half \* of a timetable. Instead of saying the troop withdrawal date is indefinite, he’s now said that it will between 2009 and TBD. Yes, he’s announced a timetable for the very last soldier to be withdrawn. Maybe. Are you going to Pit him if he changes his mind and removes all the armed forces before he leaves office? What he did was give a vague answer to a reporter trying to trap him into committing to a timetable. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dubya-says-iraq-pullout-is-up-to-future-presidents/349453/22 "2006-03-22T19:21:07Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > Are you going to Pit him if he changes his mind and removes all the armed forces before he leaves office? Of course not :rolleyes: , and that comment is something I \*once \* would have thought beneath you. Seriously, what’s happened to you? > [@](#): > > What he did was give a vague answer to a reporter trying to trap him into committing to a timetable. Go back and read it again, then. He said what I said he said. ---
**Author:** ![scotandrsn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@scotandrsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotandrsn)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dubya-says-iraq-pullout-is-up-to-future-presidents/349453/23 "2006-03-22T19:31:57Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Helen Thomas deserves better than that. She’s been the doyenne of the White House press corps since, oh, the Coolidge Administration. Hey, not trying to disrespect her, she’s my new hero. I just couldn’t remember her full name. I really do think that the Mark Felt revelation and the file footage reporters had to dredge up to emphsize its historical significance reminded them just what the hell objective, investigative reporting is. Her question was one of the type that I’ve rarely heard since 1980 or so. It essentially said: Look, we’re both realistic adults with access to a lot of information. I know the stated reasons for war were crap, you know they were crap. What’s more, I know you knew they were crap at time, and so do you. So how about you just state openly, here and now, why we really went? And he showed he was incapable of answering the question honestly. > [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Outside the US, the photos were wider-angled, and showed that it was a US military operation with just a handful of locals watching with bemusement. > [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Not many Sunnis, though. Even if they were managed and manipulated positives, they were still major positives of the sort that the WH says would like to see covered, and covered they were, to the extent that those two sights are as ingrained in our memories as the man standing down a column of chinese tanks. In other words, when the positives are out there, they’re covered, Lack of positives means either they’re not there to be reported on, or as the Today reporter noted, they occur in the midst of such overwhelming risk that you may never get out alive to report on them at all. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dubya-says-iraq-pullout-is-up-to-future-presidents/349453/24 "2006-03-22T19:45:49Z")
> [@scotandrsn](#): > > \*The rest of it focused on Bush’s use of what has already become a worn Bush-supporter saw about how the media is focused only on reporting about attacks and not at all about any positive change. > > . Absolutely. The headlines **should** read “2 Million, 457,123 Iraqis _still alive_ and **not** murdered, blown up, MIA” ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dubya-says-iraq-pullout-is-up-to-future-presidents/349453/25 "2006-03-22T19:48:23Z")
**SteveG1** > [@](#): > > Gee. I wonder what happened to: > Mission accomplished > The insurgency is in its last throes > We have turned the corner Yes, just as the United States has turned the corner on the war on drugs. (Wow, I’m glad _that_ war is over and done with). 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Waverly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/57b2e6/32.png) [@Waverly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waverly)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dubya-says-iraq-pullout-is-up-to-future-presidents/349453/26 "2006-03-22T19:53:35Z")
Also for future presidents: Medicare Trade deficit Budget deficit Social Security An all too necessary tax hike Illegal immigration Renewing friendships with the EU What am I missing? Other than kick the shit out of two backwards middle eastern countries, without every fully stabilizing them again, what is checked off on his to-do list? ---
**Author:** ![Syntropy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Syntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syntropy)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dubya-says-iraq-pullout-is-up-to-future-presidents/349453/27 "2006-03-22T19:59:50Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > She might have been the “doyenne” of the press corp years ago, but this Slate article from 2003 explains exactly why Bush has snubbed her in recent years. She can’t be called an objective journalist anymore. Maybe it has something to do with the president inferring she’s a terrorist sympathizer. I think I’d probably be rather snippy with him, too. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dubya-says-iraq-pullout-is-up-to-future-presidents/349453/28 "2006-03-22T20:06:29Z")
> [@Waverly](#): > > Also for future presidents: > > Medicare > Trade deficit > Budget deficit > Social Security > An all too necessary tax hike > Illegal immigration > Renewing friendships with the EU > > What am I missing? Other than kick the shit out of two backwards middle eastern countries, without every fully stabilizing them again, what is checked off on his to-do list? Don’t forget education. Without trying to be corny and play on all the “could\_\_\_\_get elected POTUS” threads, I have to ask, could another Republican win in 2008 without a major withdrawl of troops from Iraq? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dubya-says-iraq-pullout-is-up-to-future-presidents/349453/29 "2006-03-22T20:10:44Z")
> [@Maureen](#): > > Maybe it has something to do with the president inferring she’s a terrorist sympathizer. I think I’d probably be rather snippy with him, too. You probably meant “implied” rather than “inferred”, but I’m also guessing that the implication is mostly in your mind. Either way, your post had nothing to do with the point I was making. Helen Thomas may once have been a great news reporter, but she ain’t anymore, and it was completely her choice and had absolutely nothing to do with Bush other than she chose to make him the object of her editorializing. Who knows, she may have a great second career as an opinion writer. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dubya-says-iraq-pullout-is-up-to-future-presidents/349453/30 "2006-03-22T20:20:24Z")
> [@adam yax](#): > > Don’t forget education. > > Without trying to be corny and play on all the “could\_\_\_\_get elected POTUS” threads, I have to ask, could another Republican win in 2008 without a major withdrawl of troops from Iraq? At this point I wouldn’t be surprised. The loons that reelected GW still haven’t come around to reality. They are simply better motivated and organized then the non-loons. ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dubya-says-iraq-pullout-is-up-to-future-presidents/349453/31 "2006-03-22T20:21:12Z")
Would have been nice if George H.W. had pulled out… ---
**Author:** ![scotandrsn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@scotandrsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotandrsn)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dubya-says-iraq-pullout-is-up-to-future-presidents/349453/32 "2006-03-22T20:42:02Z")
> [@wring](#): > > Absolutely. The headlines **should** read “2 Million, 457,123 Iraqis _still alive_ and **not** murdered, blown up, MIA” \ 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Syntropy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Syntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syntropy)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dubya-says-iraq-pullout-is-up-to-future-presidents/349453/33 "2006-03-22T20:45:51Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > You probably meant “implied” rather than “inferred”, but I’m also guessing that the implication is mostly in your mind. Either way, your post had nothing to do with the point I was making. Helen Thomas may once have been a great news reporter, but she ain’t anymore, and it was completely her choice and had absolutely nothing to do with Bush other than she chose to make him the object of her editorializing. Who knows, she may have a great second career as an opinion writer. 'S funny, I specifically recall Helen being one of the few reporters asking questions like “Why, exactly, are we going to war with Iraq, Mr. President? What does Iraq have to do with Al Qaida?” Way back before the invasion even started. So, no, I don’t think she’s lost it. I think he just doesn’t like her. Very few presidents actually have. She tends to ask embarrassing questions. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dubya-says-iraq-pullout-is-up-to-future-presidents/349453/34 "2006-03-22T20:48:04Z")
> [@Steve MB](#): > > Oh, Lord, that comment brought this glurgy image I saw in a print shop back to active memory. Curse you! Curses to you, too. Damn, that thing is _horrible_. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dubya-says-iraq-pullout-is-up-to-future-presidents/349453/35 "2006-03-22T21:00:14Z")
> [@Maureen](#): > > 'S funny, I specifically recall Helen being one of the few reporters asking questions like “Why, exactly, are we going to war with Iraq, Mr. President? What does Iraq have to do with Al Qaida?” Way back before the invasion even started. So, no, I don’t think she’s lost it. I think he just doesn’t like her. Very few presidents actually have. She tends to ask embarrassing questions. I don’t care what kind of questions she asks, if she wants to be a news reporter she can’t editorialize. Period. It’s not a question of her “losing it”-- she abdicated her claim to objectivity. Like I said, there’s nothing wrong with that if she wants to be an editorial writer. More power to her. I’ll probably agree with her more often than not. But she can’t pretend to be a reporter anymore-- she isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Syntropy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Syntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syntropy)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dubya-says-iraq-pullout-is-up-to-future-presidents/349453/36 "2006-03-22T21:11:43Z")
Seems to me she’s still asking tough[questions](http://www.unknownnews.net/helenthomas2005q1.html). And if they were answered instead of sidestepped, maybe she wouldn’t be so free with the commentary. From these, it seems like she’s just trying to pin down what Mclellan is saying, since he keeps skirting the issues. It also occurs while reading this that while Bush probably intensely dislikes Helen, Scott McLellan absolutely _loathes_ her. I almost feel sorry for that man. There’s not enough money on earth to make me take that job. > [@](#): > > Q: Would the President still have gone into war if he’d known what will be in this report, that there were no weapons of mass destruction? > > A: I think he’s already addressed that issue, and his position remains the same. And I think that what he said earlier today was important to note, as well. We are seeing that the Iraqi people are serving as an example – > > Q: That was not the point when we went to war. > > A: We are seeing that the Iraqi people are – > > Q: They were supposed to be threatening us. > > A: Okay, well, you’ve expressed your opinion, and you’ve heard ours, as well. [To another reporter] Go ahead, Goyal. > > Q: I’ve told you what you told us. > > A: Saddam Hussein’s regime was creating instability in the region and we are better off with his regime out of power. And the Iraqi people are showing – > > Q: The American people were told they were under threat. > > A: The Iraqi people are showing, through their courage and determination – > > Q: Are you sorry you told the American people a falsehood? > > [McClellan then takes the next question from another reporter.] ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dubya-says-iraq-pullout-is-up-to-future-presidents/349453/37 "2006-03-22T22:01:55Z")
> [@AFAIKnow](#): > > It would surprise me if Bush, or any near future administration for that matter, diecided to pull out of Iraq completely. And if they demand we leave ? Oh, let me guess, we’ll kill whomever’s in power at the moment and put a different puppet in, and call in “democracy”. > [@AFAIKnow](#): > > I don’t see any president, dem or pub, removing forces from Iraq until it is decided the US no longer needs to be in the Middle East. What better position could we have to be a threat to Syria and Iran. First, it’s not our business to be there if they don’t want us. Second, if we would _stop_ threatening them, maybe they wouldn’t be so desperate for the nukes so many people are worried about. There _used_ to be a moderate movement in Iran, but we’ve put paid to that. For that matter, every minute we stay in Iraq we provide more evidence the the ME people that the extremists are _right_ about America. We don’t “need” to be in the ME; we need to _leave_. ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dubya-says-iraq-pullout-is-up-to-future-presidents/349453/38 "2006-03-22T22:12:22Z")
> [@Der Trihs](#): > > And if they demand we leave ? Oh, let me guess, we’ll kill whomever’s in power at the moment and put a different puppet in, and call in “democracy”. At this point? I think the Administration would jump at the chance to get out of this while saving face. They’d happily let the place descend into chaos and then strike a deal with the winner if they could do it without admitting defeat. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dubya-says-iraq-pullout-is-up-to-future-presidents/349453/39 "2006-03-22T22:22:41Z")
> [@Neurotik](#): > > At this point? I think the Administration would jump at the chance to get out of this while saving face. They’d happily let the place descend into chaos and then strike a deal with the winner if they could do it without admitting defeat. So why doesn’t Bush do exactly that as soon as the new government is formed? Or, more to the point, why didn’t he already do that after any of the elections that were held? Methinks you don’t have any idea what you’re talking about. ---
**Author:** ![arcticdonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e95f7d/32.png) [@arcticdonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/arcticdonkey)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dubya-says-iraq-pullout-is-up-to-future-presidents/349453/40 "2006-03-22T22:28:34Z")
Or Bush, for that matter. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dubya-says-iraq-pullout-is-up-to-future-presidents/349453.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dubya-says-iraq-pullout-is-up-to-future-presidents/349453.md?page=3)