Robert Novak is promoting a brand-new leak from “well-placed sources within the Administration”:
“Quick Exit from Iraq is likely.”
Well-placed sources indeed–Novak’s informant gave him detailed
post-election plans right down to dumping Colin Powell from State.
I ran across the link via my plugged-in Washingtonian SlashDot pal (CyGuy) who points out
the total hypocrisy.. (after a full
weekend of conservative pundits criticizing Kerry’s SOFT FOUR YEAR GOAL
of getting US forces out — as being a sop to the ‘terrorists’ by giving
them a target to to holdout for).
Josh Marshall’s take
is that Novak’s trial balloon will make Bush attractive to a wide range
of voters. For old-fashioned fiscal
conservatives, point to Novak’s leak and say Bush has an exit plan but
Kerry wants to keep our troops stuck in the quagmire.
Meanwhile, neo-con hardliners can dismiss this little leak as pure hot
air. Why would we want to pull out of Iraq, where Bush’s game plan has been such a
great success?