Congress has sent its Iraq funding bill to land at the White House today, exactly four years after President Bush landed on an aircraft carrier flying a “mission accomplished” banner, and hours after the end of a month that saw more than 100 Americans and 1,550 Iraqis killed in the fighting there. Democrats did themselves and the nation no favour in timing the bill to extract the most embarrassment from Bush, since it made them vulnerable to Bush’s charge that their bill, requiring that the US begin drawing down troop levels by October, was little more than political posturing since he had vowed to veto it.

The timetable set by Congress is realistic. If Bush can demonstrate progress within the next five months, but needs a limited additional commitment, he will surely get it at that time. But if the last-gasp “surge” has produced no significant progress, it will be time to go. Little debated is what is needed most: Diplomatic efforts to secure agreement from Iraq’s neighbours that they will not allow ethnic cleansing to rage uncontrolled in Iraq, and they will not allow the west of the country to become a staging area for Al Qaeda — both in their own self-interests. Bush would advance this goal by emphasising that the US commitment to Iraq is limited, even if he refuses to name a date.