Bush Administration rebuffs Iraqi Calls for Troop Withdrawal

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has informed ambassadors from the UAE that he is in the process of trying to set a timetable for American troop withdrawals from Iraq with the US government. The Bush administration however, seems to be pushing back, not wanting to be forced into a timeline they have been trying to prevent for the last two years. The question I have is why? "As they stand up we will stand down," has long been one of President Bush's favorite catch phrases in relation to Iraq. The fact the Maliki is implying that Iraqi sovereignty is part of the equation at this point, how much longer do american troops need to stand up? I would think that this would be a welcome situation for the Bush administration, Iraq is "standing up" for the first time, this is the opening the administration has been waiting for to bring an end to our involvement in this wholly unpopular military occupation of a sovereign power. So is the stage now set for the alterior motives of the Bush administration to be laid bare? With the Iraqi people standing up to their "protectors" and asking them politely to begin extracting their forces, will we finally get to see the real reasons we are there come into the light?