Iraqi government decides to discuss setting a timetable for withdrawal. John McCain's hundred years war hangs its head in defeat.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki raised the prospect on Monday of setting a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops as part of negotiations over a new security agreement with Washington.

It was the first time the U.S.-backed Shi'ite-led government has floated the idea of a timetable for the removal of American forces from Iraq. The Bush administration has always opposed such a move, saying it would give militant groups an advantage.

In a statement, Maliki's office said the prime minister made the comments about the security pact -- which will replace a U.N. mandate for the presence of U.S. troops that expires on December 31 -- to Arab ambassadors in the United Arab Emirates.

"In all cases, the basis for any agreement will be respect for the full sovereignty of Iraq," the statement quoted Maliki as saying.

"The current trend is to reach an agreement on a memorandum of understanding either for the departure of the forces or a memorandum of understanding to put a timetable on their withdrawal."

This can only benefit Obama in the upcoming election. After all McCain's whole campaign is based on winning a war in Iraq that the Iraqis keep trying to tell him is over.

I wrote about this eventuality a few months back. The UN mandate is almost over, and we essentially no longer have permission to have our troops in Iraq.

If the Iraqis say "get out", then by God we have to get out or we are breaking international law and we then become the criminals in the eyes of the whole world.