Britain to pull its Troops out of Iraq.

British troops will start a major withdrawal from Iraq next May under detailed plans on military disengagement to be published next month, The Observer can reveal.

The increasingly rapid pace of planning for British military disengagement has been revealed on the eve of the Labour Party conference, which will see renewed demands for a deadline for withdrawal. It is hoped that a clearer strategy on Iraq will quieten critics who say that the government will not be able to 'move on' until Blair quits. Yesterday, about 10,000 people demonstrated against the army's continued presence in the country.

You see? The people are forcing Blair to more quickly bring the troops home. If the Britains can do it then Goddamnit so can we! This war is our fault! Somehow we allowed this to happen. For those who voted for Bush the blame is obvious, but for those of us who knew better why couldn't we convince other people?

My mother and I had an interesting talk the other day.

She voted for Bush, even though we had talked about the reasons not to before the 2004 election. I was hushed by my wife for making a scene and for making my mother uncomfortable. I stopped that day.

Now last week my mother expressed regret for voting for Bush and when I asked her why she did she said that she had always thought that Republicans were better at solving problems. Now she knows better but is still confused. She admitted that she did not pay much attention to the news or the opposition to Bush. I have not yet asked her why she did not listen to me that day but I am going to this week. I am curious as to whether or not I could have changed her mind. I feel like I should have been able to get that one more vote away from Bush.

But this brings me to the bigger question. Did all of us who call ourselves Progressives do everything we could have to change minds? Did we get enough information out there? Or were we too embarrasssed to talk about this stuff in mixed company? I was. But I won't be next time!