So why did all three leading Democratic candidates say they couldn’t guarantee that all U.S. combat troops would be out of Iraq by January 2013?

Might have something to do with this Washington Post poll result, that surprised me:

13. There’s been a proposal to remove these additional U.S. forces from Iraq by next summer, returning to the earlier level of about 130-thousand U.S. troops. Do you think the number of U.S. forces in Iraq should be reduced more (quickly) than this, more (slowly), or is this about the right pace of troop reductions?
More Quickly: 43 percent
More Slowly: 12 percent
Right Pace: 38 percent
Should Not Be Reduced (volunteered answer): 2 percent
No Opinion: 5 percent

You add them up, it’s 52 percent for the current pace or slower. Remember this the next time one of our friends in the anti-war movement insists that the vast majority of Americans agree with their desire for an immediate withdrawal.