Iraq Prime Minister Tells German Magazine He Backs Obama's Exit Plan

When Mr. Maliki announced he wanted troops out the Bush administration made up a lot of stories about what he meant and as usual mainstream news went along with the Bush people repeating their assertions and covering up the fact that Maliki was sounding like he favored Obama's idea.

Well, I guess they can't cover this up anymore.

See Reuters "Iraqi PM backs Obama troop exit plan - magazine "

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.

Okay I've found the Der Spiegel English original "Iraq Leader Maliki Supports Obama's Withdrawal Plans ". It adds: 

Maliki was careful to back away from outright support for Obama. "Of course, this is by no means an election endorsement. Who they choose as their president is the Americans' business," he said. But then, apparently referring to Republican candidate John McCain's more open-ended Iraq policy, Maliki said: "Those who operate on the premise of short time periods in Iraq today are being more realistic. Artificially prolonging the tenure of US troops in Iraq would cause problems."

Iraq, Maliki went on to say, "would like to see the establishment of a long-term strategic treaty with the United States, which would govern the basic aspects of our economic and cultural relations." He also emphasized though that the security agreement between the two countries should only "remain in effect in the short term."

There is more on the subject at each source.   

tags: iraq  maliki  war  obama  mccain  

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