The corporate media is now abuzz with talk of the Bush administration’s agreement to a “general time horizon” for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq. This is a “dramatic shift” from the previous strategy according to the AP’s Terence Hunt. Yet Hunt attributes this supposed reversal to the White House attempting “to salvage negotiations for a long-term agreement covering U.S. military operations there.” So this agreement to withdrawal troops at some nebulous time in the future is predicated on negotiating a long-term (read permanent) military presence in Iraq. Orwell would be proud indeed.

So what exactly is a “time horizon” you might ask? It can’t be a deadline or timetable because Bush has repeatedly opposed such things when it comes to Iraq. Apparently, according to White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe, “The agreement will look at goal dates for transition of responsibilities and missions. The focus is on the Iraqi assumption of missions, not on what troop levels will be.” Therefore when we reach the time horizon we will simply reevaluate the situation of whether the uncivilized Iraqis can run things to our liking, no guarantees of reductions necessary.

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