Senator Chuck Schumer needs to quit wearing them. Then he needs to quit talking about what he sees in the future - because it bears no responsible relationship to reality. From today's Meet the Press:
SEN. SCHUMER: Well, I think the bottom line is that the president will have no choice but to begin a withdrawal come this summer or fall of 2007. And that’s why I think the 2008 election, Tim, is going to turn on a positive platform. That’s what I’ve written...
MR. RUSSERT: Not Iraq.
SEN. SCHUMER: Not Iraq. I think we do have to discuss how to deal with the war on terror in the future. But I think that the president has shown so little veering from this plan, which is a disaster, that by 2000--early 2008, even he is going to be forced to withdraw troops from Iraq.
Relying on Bush to withdraw troops is not a plan. Expecting him to do so without major pushing by Americans is not realistic. It's much more likely that we'll still be there, just outside of Baghdad, trying to keep the civil war in Baghdad and Iraq from spreading to other countries. Iraq isn't going away as an issue in 2008, although it is likely to be seen as part of a bigger issue - Middle East politics. Not necessarily the issue of terrorism, but actual foreign policy.