So much for that

Just after an election season dominated, seemingly, by whining from the GOP about who was or wasn't sufficently stalwart enough to see Iraq through to the end, Iraq takes matters into its own hands:

The agreement sets June 30, 2009, as the deadline for U.S. troops to withdraw from all Iraqi cities and towns, Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said.

The date for all troops to leave Iraq will be December 31, 2011, he said.

These dates are "set and fixed" and are "not subject to the circumstances on the ground," he said.

And mirable dictu, this is good news somehow for George "We Can't Set A Timeline 'Cause It'd Empower The Terrorists" Bush:

But either way, we should be proud of where we have arrived at as a nation at war. Because of Bush and the courage he displayed by not bending to the left’s will, even when it cost him at the polls, we have ensured that those who lost their lives in Iraq did not die in vain and that millions of Iraqi’s will live in freedom.

Yeah, well, those of the millions who we didn't kill or torture or force to flee the country or allow to be ethnically cleansed or bombed by Turkey, anyway.