Is that a timeline I see?

The proposed agreement calls for Americans to hand over parts of Baghdad’s Green Zone - where the U.S. Embassy is located - to the Iraqis by the end of 2008. It would also remove U.S. forces from Iraqi cities by June 30, 2009, according to the two senior officials, both close to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and familiar with the negotiations.

The officials, who spoke separately on condition of anonymity because the talks are ongoing, said all
U.S. combat troops would leave Iraq by October 2010, with the remaining support personnel gone “around 2013.” The schedule could be amended if both sides agree - a face-saving escape clause that would extend the presence of U.S. forces if security conditions warrant it.

I’ll be shocked if the Bush administration agrees on a withdraw timeline by the end of 2008.  It would be a HUGE turn-around from the Mr. “I refuse to say shit about withdrawing troops” Bush.  Then again, it’ll be convenient to free up a few ground forces, ya know, with an Israeli strike against Iran in the horizon.

In a totally “unrelated” story…here comes the Navy!

Two additional United States naval aircraft carriers are heading to the Gulf and the Red Sea, according to the Kuwaiti newspaper Kuwait Times.

While the Kuwaiti daily did not name the ships it believed were heading for the Middle East, The Media Line’s defense analyst said they could be the USS Theodore Roosevelt and the USS Ronald Reagan.

Note: While the Jerusalem Post cites the Kuwaiti Times as its source of information for the two U.S. aircraft carriers, I was unable to find a link to the story on their website.

EDIT: Thank you Brianyn for posting the story link from Kuwaiti Times in the comments section! The Kuwaiti Times article can be found here.

Everyone’s gut feeling for their arrival coincides with the recent Iranian mess. I suspect America & Israel are aligning their pieces for an inevitable strike:

Meanwhile, the Arabic news agency Moheet reported at the end of July that an unnamed American destroyer, accompanied by two Israeli naval vessels traveled through the Suez Canal from the Mediterranean. A week earlier, a US nuclear submarine accompanied by a destroyer and a supply ship moved into the Mediterranean, according to Moheet.

The stars are aligning, my friends.

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