September. That's how much time they get. Give the administration, General Petraeus, and most importantly, the Iraqi government until September to straighten out Iraq or we start withdrawing by October.
General Petraeus told Congress on Wednesday that he will know whether the surge is working by September. Fair enough (not really, it's been four long years of these kind of empty promises, but let's call it fair enough for now).
I think the Democrats should work out a compromise with Congressional Republicans after Bush's veto that they get until September to deliver on all their promises, otherwise we're out.
But the goals cannot be nebulous. There cannot be another six months, another last stand, another surge. This is last chance saloon.
What do you think? This is brilliant framing as far as I'm concerned...stipulate their terms at the beginning but demand consequences instead of rolling over for yet another six months. That forces them to either admit they cannot achieve what they are claiming or proves that they can't at the end.
