No excuse for 'Iraq fatigue' in the news: "Just a month ago, the administration took pains to tell us that any 'timetable' for disengagement from the war in Iraq was the worst possible idea, that it would 'encourage the insurgents' to just 'wait us out.' Those words came from the president himself.
The result was poll numbers that fell to the lowest point in Mr. Bush's presidency. Members of Congress, who - unlike President Bush - will be facing the electorate in 2006 and beyond, began looking over their shoulders and reviving talk about an 'exit strategy.'So over the last 10 days, we started to hear something new. Administration spokespeople began to hint there might be a pullout after all. And a timetable, too. The estimates, including one by the top soldier in Iraq, General Casey, have been remarkably consistent: down by more than 50 percent, to 60,000 troops, by this time next year, then 40,000 by the fall."