The expectation of U.S. troop withdrawal must be the linchpin of any plan,

[rodeodance]

Democrats: Bush must show Iraq plan before elections

By Philip Barbara Sun Oct 22, 3:02 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Key Senate Democrats urged the White House on Sunday not to wait until after the U.S. congressional elections in two weeks to give the Iraqi government a timetable to assume a larger role in securing the country.


The top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, Sen. Carl Levin (news, bio, voting record), said the Iraq strategy blueprint reportedly being drafted for President George W. Bush specifying ways to reduce sectarian violence should also include a schedule for pulling out U.S. forces.

"We shouldn't wait 'til the end of the year to come up with milestones. We ought to be doing that now. We should have done it long ago," Levin of Michigan said on "Fox News Sunday."

Voter discontent with the Iraq war is one of the main reasons Bush's Republicans are said to be increasingly at risk of losing control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate in the November 7 elections.

The expectation of U.S. troop withdrawal must be the linchpin of any plan, Levin added. "Because without that pressure of our troops leaving Iraq a few months down the road, the Iraqis are not going to do what only they can do, which is to work out those political differences," he said.......

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061022/pl_nm/iraq_usa_dc