Yesterday, we talked about how Defense Secretary Bob Gates’ message to Iraqi officials — “the clock is ticking” — doesn’t quite match up wit the Bush administration’s actual policy. Today, the Washington Post reports that Gates continues to hint to the Maliki government that the U.S. presence in Iraq will have a deadline.
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, unsatisfied with the pace of political reconciliation in Iraq, laid down an implicit deadline Friday by urging Iraqi leaders to pass key laws by summer while repeating his warning that U.S. troops will not patrol Iraqi streets indefinitely.
Gates also described as “mixed” the results of two-month-old military operations to curb violence in Baghdad, which have included tens of thousands of additional U.S. troops.
“Our commitment to Iraq is long-term, but it is not a commitment to have our young men and women patrolling Iraq’s streets open-endedly,” Gates said at a news conference.
Gates pledged that the United States would continue training and modernizing Iraqi security forces to enable Iraq to defend itself from attack from abroad. But he made clear that in the future, U.S. troops could pull back from the day-to-day mission of providing security and combating militants. He stopped short of referring to a withdrawal of U.S. forces from the country. (emphasis added)
Yes, but the fact that he went up to the line without crossing it is interesting, isn’t it?
Maybe I’m reading too much into this. For that matter, it’s equally possible that Gates is just blowing smoke and his warnings about deadlines are as hollow as the rest of the administration’s empty rhetoric.
But I can’t help but notice we haven’t heard quite this kind of talk from a top administration official since the war began.
The LAT, under a headline that read, “U.S. stay limited, Gates warns Iraqis,” notes the same thing.
In the latest warning from Washington that America’s patience is wearing thin, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates told Iraqi government officials Friday that they need to pass legislation aimed at easing sectarian tension before this summer, when the U.S. military will conduct a formal evaluation of its troop increase in Iraq.
Gates stopped short of announcing a deadline, but he used some of his most forthright language to date to make clear to the Iraqi government that American soldiers would not remain on Baghdad streets indefinitely.
He ultimately urged Iraq’s parliament to pass legislation on provincial elections, the exploitation of the country’s vast oil resources, the status of former members of the Baath Party of Saddam Hussein and other issues before the lawmakers recess this summer.
And what might be the consequences if they don’t? He didn’t say. Hmm.