Middle East News
Iraqi Prime Minister al-Maliki praises Obama pullout plan
Jul 19, 2008, 16:28 GMT
Hamburg - Speaking to a German magazine, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has praised a plan by US presidential candidate Barack Obama to withdraw US troops from Iraq within 16 months of taking office.
In an interview to appear in its Monday issue, the news magazine Der Spiegel asked him when US troops should leave.
'As far as we are concerned, as soon as possible. The US presidential candidate Barack Obama has spoken of within 16 months. We think that would be the right time frame, with some slight variations,' he said.
Asked if this was a recommendation to US voters to pick the presumptive Democratic nominee Obama rather than the expected Republican nominee John McCain, he said, 'Whoever counts on shorter periods in Iraq today is closer to reality.
'Artificially extending the stay of the US troops would create problems. But I obviously don't want to give a voting recommendation.
'Choosing a president is the business of Americans. It's the business of Iraqis to say what they want done. The people and the government are fairly united about this. There should be a limit on the stay of the coalition forces.'
Al-Maliki, who was due to meet Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on Tuesday, said he expected an agreement with Washington on troop withdrawal before US President George W Bush leaves office next January.
'We are going to make a fresh start to these negotiations on a better and clearer basis, because the first draft was not acceptable to us,' he said.
Al-Maliki agreed it had been a 'basic problem' that the United States had sought immunity from prosecution for any crimes that might have been committed by US soldiers in Iraq.
But the other issues, of how long the troops remained, and with what powers, were 'just as important,' he said.
Maliki's remarks were released by Spiegel just a day after Bush agreed to discuss a 'time horizon' for the withdrawal of US forces.
Bush had in the past described a withdrawal timetable as dangerous, but Washington appears to have shifted ground.
The White House said Bush and al-Maliki held a video conference on Thursday and agreed that because of improved security, the agreement could include a 'general time horizon for meeting aspirational goals such as the resumption of Iraqi security control.'
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page: 1
thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/19/white-house-tips-press-off-to-maliki -interview/
So it was a surprise on Saturday morning when the White House distributed an article by Reuters that offered an endorsement of Senator Barack Obama’s Iraq policy by the leader of Iraq.
“Iraq PM backs Obama troop exit plan,” the headline read over a story about an interview of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki in the German magazine Der Spiegel, in which he expressed support for the senator’s plan to withdraw American combat brigades from Iraq over the next 16 months.
“U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama talks about 16 months,” Mr. Maliki told Der Spiegel, Reuters reported. “That, we think, would be the right time frame for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes.”
Turns out it was a mistake by the White House clipping service, which had intended to distribute it internally but instead sent it to thousands signed up to receive the administration’s press releases, transcripts, statements and other documents, drawing attention to an interview that might otherwise have received less.
The timing compounded the mistake. It came a day after the White House announced that President Bush, in a significant shift, had agreed to a “general time horizon” for withdrawing American forces, though not on the strict timetable Mr. Obama favors. Mr. Maliki’s remarks suggested a position not entirely in line with President Bush’s, despite Friday’s announcement.
Obama has laid back from any commentary in the face of his current Mideast visit, and his own reticence to be seen as setting policy. That said, the good question to ask al-Maliki would be:
'What are you and the Iraqi Parliament doing about de-Baathification, provincial elections, jobs for the Sunni, and distribution of oil revenues? These are the MAJOR Benchmark issues, and if you really want the U.S. to let Iraq handle its own affairs, YOU need to make progress on these issues. It's not enough to train Iraqi forces, good as that progress is. Political reconciliation is the crux of it'
(We'll now adjourn for a half hour while SP4 looks all of this up ...)
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SP4:Jul 19th, 2008 - 18:53:54
...you can bet he does!
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