Carl Levin has proposed legislation that will remove some or most of the troops from Iraq by April 30th, 2008, leaving plenty of the troops still in Iraq to get shot at in a hopeless situation. By absolute standards, this is wimpy legislation, but it's the strongest we've seen so far so i guess i should be glad to see it.

But look at Bush's response:

Rebuffing all such talk, President Bush said he won't succumb to political pressure. During a visit to Parma, Ohio on Tuesday, he reiterated that troop levels in Iraq "will be decided by our commanders on the ground, not by political figures in Washington, D.C."

"I fully understand that this is a difficult war. It's hard on the American people but I will once again explain the consequences of failure," he said.

Two points (and i know none of this is new; just bear with me and let me rant):

• In a democratic republic, all decisions are made by political "figures", also knows as "representatives", not military leaders. When military leaders make the decisions, that is called a military dictatorship.
• '*Sigh*. Once again, i will explain to you ignorant peasants the consequences of failure.' This from the dumb stooge who got us into this mess in the first place. The man who doesn't know a Shia from a Sunni is going to lecture me on the consequences of actions in the Middle East?