Bush on dreams and leaving Iraq

PR Newswire: Bush 'in a conversation' at Littlerock, Arkansas

Bush: I thought the most important moment of the State of the Union, of course,was when the mom from from Pflugerville, Texas hugged the woman, the human rights advocate from Baghdad. It said - it was a powerful moment for people to see - the gratitude of the Iraqi people expressed in a hug toward a mom who suffers as a result of her son sacrificing his life, not only for our freedom, but for the freedom of people far away. It spoke volumes to me. It said that people want to be free. And I think the freest nation on the face of the Earth has a duty to help those who desire and long for freedom to achieve that dream. And in so doing, this world of ours will be more peaceful, and Iraq will continue to stand with us.

They say to me, are you going to have a timetable? Timetables - timetables are the wrong thing to put out. All the timetable says - (applause) - it says to the enemy, go ahead and wait. No, the timetable is this: We will continue training the Iraqis as fast as possible so they have the capacity to meet their will, which is to defeat these terrorists. See, they voted in overwhelming numbers in the face of terrorism. I'm convinced that when given the tools, they will defeat the terrorists. And when the Iraqis are ready to defend themselves, our troops are coming home with the honor they have earned. (Applause.) Link

So there we have it, pretty definitive. We will leave when we say so. No reference to 'the wishes of the Iraqi people' and suchlike. No, you've had your democracy - now shut up.