By ROBERT H. REID - Iraq's military is drawing up plans to cope with any quick U.S. military pullout, the defense minister said Monday, as a senior American official warned that the Bush administration may reconsider its support if Iraqi leaders don't make major reforms by fall.
The U.S. official did not say what actions could be taken by the White House, but his comments reflected the administration's need to show results in Iraq - as an answer to pressure by the Democrats in Congress seeking to set timetables on the U.S. military presence.
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On Monday, Defense Minister Abdul-Qader al-Obeidi told reporters Iraq's military was drawing up plans in case U.S.-led forces left the country quickly.
'The army plans on the basis of a worst case scenario so as not to allow any security vacuum,' al-Obeidi said. 'There are meetings with political leaders on how we can deal with a sudden pullout.'
It was unclear whether al-Obeidi's comment referred to routine contingency planning or reflected a feeling among Iraqi leaders that the days of U.S. support may be numbered even though President Bush blocked an effort by Congress to set a withdrawal timetable.
Hello!!! Democrat Leadership!!! Hello!!! Iraq's standing up with the expectation you're going to regrow testicles. Get back in there and fight for dates, timelines/tables and benchmarks. They're rising to the first benchmark... how many more do we need?