Former Deputy Secretary of State (and Valerie Plame leaker) Richard Armitage called for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq yesterday. Sort of.

“We notify the Iraqis that we’re going to be drawing down a reasonable but careful percentage of our troops over a reasonable interval of months–just for example, 5 percent of troops every three months,” Armitage told students at New Jersey’s DeSales University.

Under Armitage’s plan, US troops won’t leave Iraq until 2011.

The Army has its own plan to keep the current number of US forces in the country until 2010. And President Bush told Bob Woodward that he’ll stick with the war even if only Laura and terrier Barney support him.

But at least Armitage is talking about leaving. That’s more than you can say for most Republicans these days, including Armitage’s latest foreign policy advisee, John McCain.