From: "Mark Hessey" 

"Gene McAloon"  wrote: Bush wants
a functioning Iraqi government by June, presumably for his own election
reasons. Absent that timetable, the US position is a viable one.

I think that election purposes probably play an underlying role, but I
think a larger part was pandering to the French (who called for a return to
Iraqi power by last November) with yet another underlying purpose behind
that of reuniting the UN to let them prove they're still relevant (almost
impossible). I don't care for that tactic all that much, but given the
relative lack of destruction of the infrastructure and fast resolution of
major combat operations and remembering that the June 30th date does not
mean that our occupation will end, it does seem a prudent timetable to turn
over control while the process continues.

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