IRAQ DEMANDS TIMELINE FOR US TROOP WITHDRAWAL: BUSH AND CHENEY RESIST

President Bush and Vice President Cheney continue to insist THEY will decide when US troops are withdrawn from Iraq and not the Iraqi government.

Iraq politicians are DEMANDING a timeline for US troops to withdraw from Iraq and it is their country and you would think Iraq should have the final say so on when US troops should leave Iraq.

But not when President Bush and Vice President Cheney have taken on the duty of also ruling IRAQ and deciding what is best for Iraq.

Iraq is a sovereign nation and should be able to decide what is best for their country, but Bush and Cheney are not listening to Iraq officials and steadfastly say THEY will decide when US troops leave Iraq.

What I would like to know is what does winning mean to Bush and Cheney?

Does it mean someone from the scores of warring parties in Iraq will sign an armistice?

Are Bush and Cheney planning on sailing the battleship Missouri up the Tigris River and have a full-fledged armistice signing ceremony on the deck of the USS MISSOURI like was done at the end of World War II with the Japanese and General Douglas MacArthur?

For two people who have sent 4,144 young Americans to their death in Iraq and another 30,000 seriously wounded and perhaps disabled for life, it appears as though BUSH and CHENEY have exceeded their powers and should step back and let Iraq decide what is best for Iraq.

Commentary by BILL CORCORAN, Editor of CORKSPHERE

BAGHDAD - Iraq's foreign minister insisted Sunday that any security deal with the United States must contain a "very clear timeline" for the departure of U.S. troops.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26123767/

Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari told reporters that American and Iraqi negotiators were "very close" to reaching a long-term security agreement that will set the rules for U.S. troops in Iraq after the U.N. mandate expires at the end of the year.

Zebari said the Iraqis were insisting that the agreement include a "very clear timeline" for the withdrawal of U.S.-led forces, but he refused to talk about specific dates.