At this point, everyone seems to agree that at most, Mitt Romney once-upon-a-time supported the idea of "secret timetables" and withdrawal plans from Iraq. Here's the exact quote:
Well, there's no question that the president and Prime Minister al-Maliki have to have a series of timetables and milestones that they speak about. But those shouldn't be for public pronouncement. You don't want the enemy to understand how long they have to wait in the weeds until you're going to be gone. You want to have a series of things you want to see accomplished in terms of the strength of the Iraqi military and the Iraqi police, and the leadership of the Iraqi government...
Can you imagine a setting where during the Second World War we said to the Germans, gee, if we haven't reached the Rhine by this date, why, we'll go home, or if we haven't gotten this accomplished we'll pull up and leave? You don't publish that to your enemy, or they just simply lie in wait until that time. So, of course you have to work together to create timetables and milestones, but you don't do that with the opposition.
It's that quote that led you, Sen. McCain, to say the following about Romney:
"If we surrender and wave a white flag, like Senator Clinton wants to do, and withdraw, as Governor Romney wanted to do, then there will be chaos, genocide, and the cost of American blood and treasure would be dramatically higher."
So here is my question to you, Sen. McCain: How is a secret timetable the same thing as waiving a white flag of surrender? If a flag is waived in secret, is it really being waved at all?
The debate between the GOP candidates is so stupid it makes my head hurt.
UPDATE: Extended analysis here from Hilzoy.
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