LAT interprets Boehner

In today's paper, reporter Julian Barnes reports on Chris Wallace's interview of John Boehner on yesterday's Fox News Sunday program. Yesterday, Boehner downplayed the idea of benchmarks as part of war funding legislation. He said he introduced legislation last January that contained benchmarks of the kind that he could support -- not punitive benchmarks but guideposts, something by which to measure progress. Barnes seems to have heard it differently, that Boehner would go along with benchmarks of the kind that Democrats want, punitive benchmarks that would takes the U. S. out of Iraq if not met. Barnes reports that Boehner will insist on progress in Iraq by early fall. It's true that Boehner said that, but nearly everybody expects that and Gen. Petraeus has promised a progress report in September.