Reply #16: U.S. says has set no deadlines for Iraq--"milestones" to gauge progress

[rodeodance]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061023/ts_nm/iraq1_dc

U.S. says has set no deadlines for Iraq

By Caren Bohan 11 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Monday it was using "milestones" to gauge the progress of the Iraqi government in addressing security problems but insisted they were not linked to any ultimatums.


The comments were made as a senior Iraqi government minister urged the West not to give in to defeatism, saying the United States and Britain must not cut and run from
Iraq despite the bloodshed.

U.S. officials denied a weekend report in The New York Times that said the Bush administration was drafting a timetable to boost pressure on the Iraqi government to make faster progress on assuming responsibility for security.

"I was a bit puzzled by the report over the weekend, because it was stating something that we've been talking publicly about for months," White House counselor Dan Bartlett told CBS's "Early Show."

"Our ambassador in Iraq has been working with the Iraqi government to do just that, to find the demonstrable milestones and benchmarks along the way in which we will hand over more security control."