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Britain's Sunday Mirror is reporting that both the US and UK are planning to withdraw from Iraq in early 2007. The details:

LONDON (Reuters) - The United States and Britain are planning to pull all their troops out of Iraq by the spring of 2007, two British newspapers reported in their Sunday editions, quoting unnamed senior defense ministry sources. The Sunday Telegraph said the planned pull-out followed an acceptance by the two governments that the presence of foreign troops in Iraq was now a large obstacle to securing peace. "The British government is understood to be the driving force behind the withdrawal plan but all 24 coalition members are likely to welcome the move, given the growing international unpopularity of the war," the Telegraph said. There are currently about 135,000 U.S. soldiers and Marines and about 8,500 British troops in Iraq. The full U.S.-led coalition numbers around 160,000. Italy, which has the fourth largest contingent in Iraq, has said it plans to pull out this year. Britain's Sunday Mirror newspaper also reported on the planned withdrawal saying it would happen within 12 months.

Here's the part I don't understand. Although the report claims this decision is based on the acceptance of the fact that our troops are, as Rep. Murtha said months ago, becoming the problem rather than the solution, it also claims that civil war would delay the withdrawal. How those two ideas make sense together is just beyond me.

If this report is in fact true, I'm curious to see how the White House attempts to spin this. "When they stand up, we stand down." That was Bush's promise. We'll never "cut and run." And just a few weeks ago he said this:

And we have a plan to achieve victory. Victory is a state -- a democracy that can sustain itself and defend itself and join America in fighting the war on terror. That's the goal of victory. That's the definition of victory.

That is his definition of victory. That is the goal as the president has defined it. Will Iraq in the Spring of 2007 meet that goal?

For the record, yes, I am in favor of bringing our troops home. But I want to do it carefully, intelligently, and with a plan based on both short and long term tactical and strategic considerations. Political considerations, particularly short term ones, should not be part of the evaluation. Given how badly this administration has screwed up so far, I have no faith in their ability to organize a smooth withdrawal, nor do I have any faith that they will not use our soldiers as political pawns to score short term gains in the upcoming midterm elections.

We'll have to watch this carefully. Perhaps the story is not even true. Time will tell...

UPDATE: Or maybe not:

WASHINGTON // The top U.S. commander in Iraq said yesterday that he hopes to make an assessment this spring about whether to reduce the number of American troops in Iraq. But Pentagon officials speaking anonymously said a recent surge in violence there has dampened hopes that force levels can be cut anytime soon. The expectation now is that U.S. force levels will remain the same for the foreseeable future, according to a senior military officer, speaking on condition of anonymity. Another Pentagon official said that with violence continuing in Iraq, the current number of American troops would likely be maintained at least through the end of 2006. "They're planning for the long haul this year," the official said. "The numbers will be sustained or slightly increase to provide for trainers."

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