"The administration's idea has always been we would leave when the Iraqi Army can carry the load, and when Iraq can stand on its own."

No, that's not the administration's long stated aim. That is simply the long-shot best-case scenario we can hope for right now. The original aim, which we all know is true even if it was never spelled out, was an American puppet state in the middle east, full of US bases, bordering on every enemy that could cause us trouble and every ally who might request our help. All financed, of course, by a guarantee of Iraqi oil under complete American control. And that's not rewriting history, that's what my first post to this board proposed over two years ago. Although I like to think that if it had worked out, I would have given the Bushbaby full credit for it, just as I have given the Elder Bush full credit for the success of the First Gulf War.