http://www.reuters.com/article/vcCandidateFeed2/idUSL198009020080719 Iraqi PM backs Obama troop exit plan: report BERLIN (Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki told a German magazine he supported prospective U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's proposal that U.S. troops should leave Iraq within 16 months. In an interview with Der Spiegel released on Saturday, Maliki said he wanted U.S. troops to withdraw from Iraq as soon as possible. "U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama talks about 16 months. That, we think, would be the right timeframe for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes." It is the first time he has backed the withdrawal timetable put forward by Obama, who is visiting Afghanistan and us set to go to Iraq as part of a tour of Europe and the Middle East. Obama has called for a shift away from a "single-minded" focus on Iraq and wants to pull out troops within 16 months, instead adding U.S. soldiers to Afghanistan. Asked if he supported Obama's ideas more than those of John McCain, Republican presidential hopeful, Maliki said he did not want to recommend who people should vote for. "Whoever is thinking about the shorter term is closer to reality. Artificially extending the stay of U.S. troops would cause problems." Maliki, who is due to visit Germany this week, has suggested a timetable should be set for a U.S. withdrawal but U.S. officials have been more cautious, despite an improving security situation. The White House said on Friday President George W. Bush and Maliki had agreed that a security deal under negotiation should set a "time horizon" for meeting "aspirational goals" for reducing U.S. forces in Iraq. "The Americans have found it difficult to agree on a concrete timetable for the exit because it seems like an admission of defeat to them. But it isn't," Maliki told Der Spiegel. Some five years after the U.S.-led invasion, there are still some 146,000 U.S. soldiers in Iraq.
Great news....more reason to vote for Obama.... Sink or swim time for the Iraqi police force..... It has to happen some time. DD
Bush and McCain must be about to have coronaries. There's no way al-Maliki doesn't know the impact his comments could have in the States. A major slap in the face to George W. Bush, and the US, as well. Clearly, the Iraqi government has nudged itself closer to Iran (IMO). Impeach Bush/Cheney.
Aren't they supposed to accept what we give them and not like it? Otherwise, it's not a victory. And if we don't have victory, then we're losers. and losers are terrorists and non-christians. Vote Republican- They'll make you do what they want and you won't like it.
We'll see how well the "show" goes. This could be an incredibly pivotal week if Obama plays it right. The stakes are enormous.
I hope someone asks McCain what he thinks about Malaki's statement as opposed to the "hundred years" occupation idea.
Iraqis couldn't have an enhanced sense of security because of the surge, right? That couldn't be the case since I learned here that the surge has failed.
It's got to hurt McCain that both Maliki and the White House are going with Obama's plan. Just not a good time for McCain.
The republicans would like to paraphrase THE ROCK: "What do you think, PM of IRAQ?" - THE ROCK-publicans "Well . . I" - PM of IRAQ "WE DON'T GIVE A CRAP WHAT YOU THINK . . .SIT YA *SS DOWN AND BE A GOOD PUPPET!!" - THE ROCK-Publicans
oh no he di'int. [rquoter]Iraqi PM disputes report on withdrawal plan (CNN) -- A German magazine quoted Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki as saying that he backed a proposal by presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq within 16 months. "U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama talks about 16 months," he said in an interview with Der Spiegel that was released Saturday. "That, we think, would be the right time frame for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes," he said. But a spokesman for al-Maliki said his remarks "were misunderstood, mistranslated and not conveyed accurately." Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said the possibility of troop withdrawal was based on the continuance of security improvements, echoing statements that the White House made Friday after a meeting between al-Maliki and U.S. President Bush. In the magazine interview, Al-Maliki said his remarks did not indicate that he was endorsing Obama over presumptive Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain. "Who they choose as their president is the Americans' business. But it's the business of Iraqis to say what they want. And that's where the people and the government are in general agreement: The tenure of the coalition troops in Iraq should be limited," he said. "Those who operate on the premise of short time periods in Iraq today are being more realistic," al-Maliki said. The interview's publication came one day after the White House said President Bush and al-Maliki had agreed to include a "general time horizon" in talks about reducing American combat forces and transferring Iraqi security control across the country. The Bush administration has steadfastly refused to consider a "timetable" for withdrawing troops from Iraq. In a statement issued Friday after a conversation between Bush and al-Maliki by closed-circuit television, the White House said that conditions in Iraq would dictate the pace of the negotiations and not "an arbitrary date for withdrawal." The two men "agreed that the goals would be based on continued improving conditions on the ground and not an arbitrary date for withdrawal," the White House said. In an interview to air Sunday on "Late Edition," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told CNN's Wolf Blitzer that "those goals are being achieved now, as we speak. And so, it's not at all unusual to start to think that there is a horizon out there, in the not too distant future, in which the roles and responsibilities of the U.S. forces are going to change dramatically and those of the Iraqi forces are going to become dominant." White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said al-Maliki had made it clear that such decisions will be based on continuing positive developments. "It is our shared view that should the recent security gains continue, we will be able to meet our joint aspirational time horizons," he said. The prime minister's remarks emerged as Obama visited Kuwait and Afghanistan before embarking on a tour of the Middle East and Europe to boost his foreign policy credentials. He also plans to visit Iraq. [/rquoter]
right on cue -- I would not discount the possibility that the White House will muscle Maliki into a retraction of some sort. But I think it will be difficult for that to seem to be anything other than what it is. What he said pre-waterboarding will always appear more genuine than whatever statement came later. McCain may also say that his 'surge' strategy is what made all this possible. But fundamentally that's not a point Obama is arguing. The debate is about whether or not to leave. And on that count, Maliki has now placed McCain is an extremely precarious position. --Josh Marshall
Josh Marshall, as usual, is all over this story. To bad the national media isn't. It's the biggest story so far this election. ----------- Nice Try Der Spiegel is standing by its story, its translation of what Maliki said. And as Ben Smith aptly puts it, "It's almost a convention of politics that when a politician says he was misquoted, but doesn't detail the misquote or offer an alternative, he's really saying he wishes he hadn't said what he did, or that he needs to issue a pro-forma denial to please someone. The Iraqi Prime Minister's vague denial seems to fall in that category. The fact that it arrived to the American press via CENTCOM, seems to support that." Matt Yglesias enumerates the reasons why this 'walk back' almost certainly falls into the latter category. I'll be watching to see whether the major papers continue to downplay the story. As Todd Gitlin notes, of the LA Times, Washington Post and NY Times, only the LAT put the story on the front page of their Sunday paper, though the Post had it as an ambiguous subhed on their front page Obama to War Zone story. Notably and humorously, the Post editorial page appears to ignore the issue entirely. --Josh Marshall
Obama: Get most troops out ASAP. McCain: Potentially OK with a 100 yr security presence (ala South Korea or Germany) Which fits more with al-Maliki's statement?
nice to see mc mark, mc josh, and mc'bama all agreeing that the surge has worked, which, must also mean of course, that they were all wrong about the surge in the first place.
I saw an article earlier on CNN talking about how the White House mistakenly sent an email to Reuters (it was intended to go within the WH or something) talking about how Iraq was a fan of Obama's plan. It also quoted the Prime Minister as liking the withdrawal plan. Suddenly, I can't find it on CNN, and the PM is saying he was misquoted.
We all know the Iraq PM is George Bush's puppet and trying to destroy Obama just because of his name and race. I bet this will make a bunch of Americans go crazy and get 911 paranoia again, have fun guys.
