BUMP: This is rather important, I'm bumping this from last night.
50 years is the current thinking for when we'll complete our withdrawal. Certifiably insane. From AP:
President Bush envisions a long-term U.S. troop presence in Iraq similar to the one in South Korea where American forces have helped keep an uneasy peace for more than 50 years, the White House said Wednesday.
The comparison was offered as the Pentagon announced the completion of the troop buildup ordered by Bush in January. The last of about 21,500 combat troops to arrive were an Army brigade in Baghdad and a Marine unit heading into the Anbar province in western Iraq....
In South Korea, about 29,500 U.S. troops are stationed...
And a second rather important point, the Bushies keep telling us how all the surge troops won't even be all there in Iraq until July, so it's way too early to talk about success or failure. Now we learn that the combat troops have all arrived - it's only May. Yes, another lie. But just as important, it means that September will be ample time to judge the success or failure of the "surge."
