Bush has stated several times that any deadlines at all on US activity in Iraq are a deal breaker. No deadlines for this year. No deadlines for next year. Sure, they'll buy off on setting "benchmarks" for the Iraqi legislature, so long as those benchmarks are not attached to the only thing that counts: a decrease in US troops.

In testimony last week, General Pace said that no plans had been drawn up for a withdrawal of US forces. However, some plans are being made.

The White House and Pentagon are under increasing pressure from Congress and the public to end U.S. military involvement in Iraq. But the Pentagon is considering maintaining a core group of forces in Iraq, possibly for decades. ... A series of military installations could be maintained around Iraq, with a total of total of 30,000 to 40,000 U.S. troops, for a long period of time — maybe a few decades.

It's no coincidence that the Republicans keep tossing up the "we still have troops in Germany" line, as if there's a comparison.