Give the Iraqis a hearing

Give the Iraqis a hearing

Kansas City Star: U.S. troops should stay no longer than necessary in Iraq, and the Bush administration should show a healthy respect for concerns there about a long-term American “occupation.”

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has called for some sort of timetable for the withdrawal of American troops, echoing widespread public sentiment in his country and in the United States.

President Bush continues to resist the idea, and a U.S. State Department spokesman sounded an unfortunate note of arrogance this week in responding — or not responding, really — to al-Maliki’s statement. The spokesman declared that he did not want to publicly respond to “every single development” in the negotiations between Iraq and the United States.

There are certainly hazards to strict timetables for hasty military withdrawals. For example, an adversary may simply decide to lay low for a while.

But the proposed Iraqi timeline appears to provide for an ample transition period before the last U.S. forces, perhaps well into the next decade, would leave the Arab country.

The United States has many other priorities beside Iraq — a simple fact that Bush should keep in mind as the talks continue.