Schwarzenegger Urges Iraq Pullout Deadline

SAN FRANCISCO — Governor Schwarzenegger is calling for a deadline to withdraw American troops from Iraq, despite President Bush's protests that a rigid timetable would embolden terrorists.

"I think that we should get out of there as quickly as we can. We should give a deadline of when we pull the troops out and figure that out and work together with the government in Iraq, which I think they're doing now," Mr. Schwarzenegger said in an interview yesterday with KPIX-TV. Reminded of Mr. Bush's opposition, the governor replied, "Well, I think that eventually you will have to put a deadline on there. I think the American people will demand it," he said.

Mr. Schwarzenegger, a Republican who has broken with the White House on issues from stem cell research to global warming, is facing re-election next Tuesday in a state where Mr. Bush and the Iraq War are both widely unpopular.