Reply #14: It's not that he doesn't want to establish a timeline, it's that he

[Boo Boo]

doesn't think it's smart to do it unilaterally. That is, in order to pull out without total chaos ensuing you're going to have to reach some sort of accommodation with the Sunni insurgency---not the foreign jihadis, but the Baathists that we've been fighting since we got there. Those negotiations would hinge on us leaving; that's our card. People who say we need to announce a date for leaving are suggesting that we throw away a major part of our negotiating position.

Actually, I think people who want a date are really just advocating that we leave and let whatever happens happen. Clark doesn't hold that view. I imagine that he might think that to simply split, with so much hanging in the balance---regionally, for the U.S., for Europe---would be a reckless and self defeating thing to do; sort of like barging in there in the first place.

Clark's position is that we have to talk to the insurgency. Within that context, unilaterally announcing a withdrawal date does not make sense. Clark wants diplomacy, but if one announces a withdrawal date, there's nothing to negotiate over. You just told them that they've won, and all they have to do is wait a little longer.

So, Clark wants a timeline for withdrawal, and he wants to establish that timeline through negotiations that include the major players in Iraq, and Iraq's neighbors.