Via the New York Times: Hot Topic: How U.S. Might Disengage in Iraq

…all over Washington, there is talk about new ways to define when the mission is accomplished – not to cut and run, but not to linger, either. Several administration officials acknowledge that Mr. Bush will face crucial decisions soon after Jan. 30, when it should become clearer whether the election has resulted in more stability or more insurgency.

Already, the president found himself in a rare public argument last week with one of his father’s closest friends and advisers, Brent Scowcroft, the former national security adviser. The election “won’t be a promising transformation, and it has great potential for deepening the conflict,” Mr. Scowcroft declared Thursday, adding, “We may be seeing incipient civil war at this time.”

Mr. Scowcroft said the situation in Iraq raised the fundamental question of “whether we get out now.” He urged Mr. Bush to tell the Europeans on a trip to Europe next month: “I can’t keep the American people doing this alone. And what do you think would happen if we pulled American troops out right now?”

In short, he was suggesting that Mr. Bush raise the specter that Iraq could collapse without a major foreign presence – exactly the rationale the administration has used for its current policy.

Mr. Bush, asked Friday whether he shared Mr. Scowcroft’s concerns about “an incipient civil war,” shot back, “Quite the opposite.”

“I think elections will be such an incredibly hopeful experience for the Iraqi people,” he said.

But the president’s optimism is in sharp contrast, some administration insiders say, to some conversations in the White House Situation Room, the Pentagon and Congress. For the first time, there are questions about whether it is politically possible to wait until the Iraqi forces are adequately trained before pressure to start bringing back American troops becomes overwhelming.