Ron, if you can't keep up, don't bother posting. I originally said that "Maliki wants US troops to start leaving". Shad said I didn't know what I was talking about, so I cited the quote to prove I was correct and that he was the one who didn't know what he was talking about. I was 100% correct. It is irrelevant who asked the question; the answer was that Maliki would like to see one third of our troops out of Iraq this year, not see more of them. The question is, why would Bush want to increase US troop levels when most ordinary Iraqis and the Iraqi Prime Minister want him to reduce them? It has nothing to do with what any Iraqis want. It has nothing to do with what Americans want either. Bush is increasing US troop and Iraqi deaths despite the clear wishes of the people in both countries. And you are cheering him on. And you wonder why I say that the GZ conservatives have a wide fascist streak.