You could almost give Sen. Barack Obama credit for taking a clear position on Iraq (he wants U.S. troops withdrawn by March 31, 2008) and for proposing binding legislation to make it happen (he introduced The Iraq War De-Escalation Act in the Senate yesterday).

Here, it seemed, was a senator willing to actually use the constitutional authority of Congress, and to be held accountable for the specific details and potential consequences of his own war policy.

But the “fact sheet” on Obama’s proposal posted on his Senate website holds the punch line until the very last sentence. It says his bill: “Mandates that the President submit a plan to prevent the war in Iraq from becoming a wider regional conflict.”

Obviously, Obama isn’t convinced his own plan will do that.