Delays in withdrawal from Iraq

According to the Guardian, large scale redeployments from iraq may have been put on hold because of the increase in violence there;

American officials had been prepared for delays in negotiations to form a government, but now appear to have balked after Maliki’s coalition aligned itself with the theocratic Shia bloc to the exclusion of Allawi, who attracted the bulk of the minority Sunni vote. There is also concern over interference from Iraq’s neighbours, Iran, Turkey and Syria.

Late tonight seven people were killed and 22 wounded when a car bomb planted outside a cafe exploded in Baghdad’s Sadr City, a Shia area, police and a source at the Iraqi interior ministry said.

The latest bomb highlights how sectarian tensions are rising, as al-Qaida fighters in Iraq and affiliated Sunni extremists have mounted bombing campaigns and assassinations around the country.

The violence is seen as an attempt to intimidate all sides of the political spectrum and press home the message to the departing US forces that militancy remains a formidable foe.

The Associated Press reported the other day that the delay may throw the schedule off for a month;

The first major wave of the pullout is expected to be delayed about a month, until June, the officials told the Associated Press. Waiting longer could endanger President Obama’s goal of reducing the force level from 92,000 to 50,000 servicemembers by Aug. 31.

Yes, that should be the major concern – making Obama look like he knows what he’s doing. That’s much more important than protecting the force and killing the bad guys who are disrupting the process.

By the way, is there anyone out there who didn’t see a timetable not working in Iraq? I mean other than the Bush Administration.