Bush to implement Kerry's '04 Iraq policy, but two years later

Thanks to pressure from Democrats and the military community, the Bush Administration is finally going to tell Iraqis that our occupation in that country is conditional.  The New York Times reports that the Administration is giving Iraqis a timetable to accomplish certain benchmarks:

Details of the blueprint, which is to be presented to Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki before the end of the year and would be carried out over the next yearand beyond, are still being devised. But the officials said that forthe first time Iraq was likely to be asked to agree to a schedule of specific milestones,like disarming sectarian militias, and to a broad set of otherpolitical, economic and military benchmarks intended to stabilize thecountry.

Although the plan would not threaten Mr. Maliki with awithdrawal of American troops, several officials said the Bushadministration would consider changes in military strategy and otherpenalties if Iraq balked at adopting it or failed to meet criticalbenchmarks within it.

Let's get in the time machine and head back to 2004.  John Kerry's Iraq strategy centered around outlining to the Iraqis certain benchmarks that need to be accomplished in order to continue to get a full commitment of U.S. troops at their disposal.  In other words, John Kerry wanted to put more pressure on Iraqis to take responsibility for their own country, which Bush has yet to do until now.

That was two years ago.  President Bush has sat there for the last eighteen months and given the Iraqis unconditional military commitments.  Again, no benchmarks, no deadlines, no incentives for the Iraqis to pick up the slack.  Now it is too late to turn this around.  It is not a matter of progressives not wanting us to win -- unlike what Sean Hannity implies.  It's a matter of favoring a reality-based political climate, as opposed to invoking an ideology to fit an imaginary reality. 

The philosophical clash between realism and idealism is what is at stake this November.