On timetables, which are bad, except when they aren't

Okay, so contrary to recent public statements, President Bush actually thinks that timetables are a good thing...

I think it’s also important for the president to lay out a timetable as to how long they will be involved and when they will be withdrawn.

... and exit strategies are a good thing...

Victory means exit strategy, and it’s important for the president to explain to us what the exit strategy is.

... as long as they apply to a president who isn't him.

[Then-Governor George] Bush, in Austin, criticized President Clinton’s administration for not doing enough to enunciate a goal for the Kosovo military action and indicated the bombing campaign might not be a tough enough response.

He also said that if US troops were to remain in Yugoslavia as a residual force, it was important that US troops be withdrawn over time and supplemented with troops from European allies.

But, I mean, that was an effort to remove a genocidal despot from power and restore peace and democracy to an ethnically and religiously divided region. Not applicable even a little bit.