Usamah “Sam” Husseini

So now the Bush administration is saying its model for Iraq is South Korea:

The Bush administration is developing what are described as concepts for reducing American combat forces in Iraq by as much as half next year, according to senior administration officials in the midst of the internal debate...

[O]fficials cautioned that no firm plans have emerged from the discussions. But they said the proposals being developed envision a far smaller but long-term American presence, centering on three or four large bases around Iraq. Mr. Bush has told recent visitors to the White House that he was seeking a model similar to the American presence in South Korea.

And here's Tony Snow, on Wednesday:

Q Tony, on Iraq, for the gaggle you were asked about U.S. troops and just how long the presence would be there, the vision. And you compared it to the Korean model. Can you explain that?

MR. SNOW: Yes...You have the United States there in what has been described as an over-the-horizon support role so that if you need the ability to react quickly to major challenges or crises, you can be there, but the Iraqis are conducting the lion's share of the business -- as we have in South Korea, where for many years there have been American forces stationed there as a way of maintaining stability...

I can't help but find this interesting, because I asked this very question of Adnan Pachachi, then president of the Iraqi Governing Council, in January, 2004 at the National Press Club:

Q Sam Husseini from IPA Media. I have a couple of questions, if I could. Last night, President Bush said "the people of Iraq are free" but as you've repeatedly noted, they're under foreign military occupation. What's your reaction to his claim?....What would happen if the governing council should ask the U.S. to leave, would it do so, and how long do you expect U.S. troops to be there? Will they be there 50 years from now, as they are --

MR. PACHACHI: The governing council cannot at present ask the U.S. to leave, because the U.S. is there with a United Nations mandate...the majority of Iraqis feel the United States military presence should continue for the time being, until we are able without any outside help to maintain law and order in the country. Irrespective of what some of the news media will tell you, but this is a fact in Iraq...

Q Will they remain there for decades, as they have been in Korea?

MR. PACHACHI: No, not decades, we hope a matter of a year or two maybe.