Whether you're pro- or con on the recent and flagging neo-imperialist turn in US foreign policy, it's a bit sad when the White House has to resort to 'dog ate my homework' level excuses when a country says they don't want to remain under occupation any more. As you can see, the demand for a definite date for withdrawal of US troops turns out not to have been a 'transcription error', as the White House earlier claimed. Seems like they really want a date certain.