THIS MUST BE MORE OF THAT “SMART DIPLOMACY” WE WERE PROMISED: Iraq rejects US request to maintain bases after troop withdrawal. “Obama announces the full withdrawal of troops from Iraq but fails to persuade Nouri al-Maliki to allow US to keep bases there.”

UPDATE: Reader Fred Butzen writes:

With regard to the troop pullout from Iraq: Has anyone noticed that the end of this year is only ten weeks away? How in the world does thenpresident expect the orderly withdrawal of 40,000 US troops, with all their weapons and equipment, in that brief time?

President Obama is doing what I feared he would do when he first took office: order a mad dash for the exits. An army in disarray is an army that’s vulnerable; no doubt the Iranian terrorists are licking their chops at the prospect of hitting vulnerable American troops and installations. I hope to God I’m wrong, but I’m afraid that the New Year’s is going to get pretty ugly over there.

I’m sure this has been thought through with the same care as the stimulus bill got.