maliki is shooting down the bush administration's spin that its agreement to a withdrawal timeline is merely "aspirational" the iraqi prime minister told CNN in no uncertain terms that there will be no deal with the u.s. unless it contains "specific" withdrawal dates and that the u.s. presence is "not open ended."
of course, any promised to take a future action is never set in stone. no one knows the future. new shit sometimes comes to light and deadlines are often broken. which is why the bush administration's "aspirational" spin was so ridiculous. of course it's "aspirational", every future deadline is. so is barack obama's withdrawal promise. you know, the one that both bush and mccain have claimed is tantamount to surrender. the "aspirational" spin was meant to weasel a difference between bush's agreement to a withdrawal timetable and the one proposed by the democratic nominee. but the difference does not really exist. it's just spin.
the bush administration has essentially embraced the centerpiece of obama's iraq policy, albeit with slightly different withdrawal dates. putting an adjective in front of it that could apply just as well to obama's plan creates the appearance of a distinction that isn't really there.
