OBAMA'S "SURGE"! McDuh Has Near-Stroke As Iraq Rejects
Republicans' Policies!
For Barack Obama, the path to the White House has become a SUPER
HIGHWAY, as Iraq and the world this week witness his brilliance and
superiority in foreign affairs over the senile and staggeringly wobbly
Mc"Cane."
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"Iraq Points to Pullout in 2010"
"High-Level Statement Is Second in Days to Back Timetable Similar to
Obama's"
By Sudarsan Raghavan and Dan Eggen
Wa****ngton Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, July 22, 2008; A01
BAGHDAD, July 21 -- Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama
conferred with senior Iraqi leaders, U.S. officials and military
commanders Monday, as a spokesman for the Iraqi government declared
that it would like U.S. combat forces to complete their withdrawal by
the end of 2010.
The comments by spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh mark the second time in
recent days that a senior Iraqi has endorsed a timetable for U.S.
withdrawal that is roughly similar to the one advocated by Obama.
Dabbagh suggested that a combat force pullout could be completed by
the end of 2010, which would be about seven months longer than Obama's
16-month formulation.
Dabbagh made the statement after Obama's meeting with Iraqi Prime
Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who has faced pressure from the White House
in recent days to clarify published comments that he sup****ted Obama's
16-month plan.
Dabbagh said that his government is working "on a real timetable which
Iraqis set" and that the 2010 deadline is "an Iraqi vision."
"We can't give any schedules or dates, but the Iraqi government sees
the suitable date for withdrawal of the U.S. forces is by the end of
2010," he told re****ters.
The White House responded quickly to Dabbagh's remarks, which along
with Maliki's earlier comments have been a t***** political problem
for an administration that has opposed attaching firm dates to troop
withdrawals as it negotiates the future U.S.-Iraqi relation****p.
"We don't think that talking about specific negotiating tactics or
your negotiating position in the press is the best way to negotiate a
deal," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said, suggesting that
Dabbagh was responding to domestic pressure.
Obama's visit comes at a time when American troops levels, the timing
of withdrawal and overall U.S.-Iraq strategy have become central
issues in the U.S. presidential campaign, as well as in Iraqi
politics.
Dabbagh said Maliki did not discuss troop withdrawals with his
visitor. "Senator Barack Obama is a candidate, and we are talking to
the administration which is in power," he said. But in many ways --
from the red carpet rolled out at Maliki's residence to Obama's seat
of honor next to Maliki during formal consultations -- he was treated
like a visiting head of state.
The White House said Friday that Maliki and President Bush had agreed
to set a "time horizon" for the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops. But
administration officials have steadfastly declined to indicate what
that time horizon might be, saying only that it will be based on
security conditions on the ground.
Perino said Monday that an agreement with "an aspirational time
horizon" could include dates of when Iraqi security forces should be
able to take control of given provinces. At the same time, she said:
"It will not have any discussion about troop levels. The next
commander in chief is going to have to make those decisions."
U.S. officials have emphasized in recent days that the security gains
in Iraq are reversible. "I think that they think they've done very
well over this past year," Perino said of the Iraqis. ". . . But they
have got a long ways to go, and I think that they recognize that. They
know that the American troops have been critical to helping them get
where they are."
Over the weekend, Maliki appeared to sup****t Obama's time frame in an
interview published by the German newsmagazine Der Spiegel. After the
interview began generating headlines Saturday, officials at the U.S.
Embassy in Baghdad contacted Maliki's office to express concern and
seek clarification on the remarks, according to White House spokesman
Scott Stanzel.
Later in the day, the U.S. military distributed to media organizations
a statement by Dabbagh saying that Maliki's comments, which his own
office translated from Arabic, had been "misunderstood and
mistranslated." It did not cite specific comments.
But by Monday, Maliki's office had posted on its Web site the Arabic
version of the Der Spiegel interview. It was clear that Maliki,
without prompting, expressed sup****t for Obama's position.
"Obama's remarks that, if he takes office, he would withdraw the
forces within 16 months, we think that this period might increase or
decrease a little, but that it might be suitable to end the presence
of the forces in Iraq," Maliki said, according to a translation by The
Wa****ngton Post.
"Obama is closer to Iraqi opinion on the issue of withdrawal of U.S.
forces," said Ali al-Adeeb, a top official in Maliki's Dawa party. "We
don't know him personally, but we like his opinion and his calls to
set a timetable to withdraw forces."
The senator from Illinois arrived in Iraq on Monday morning, traveling
as part of a congressional delegation that includes Sens. Chuck Hagel
(R-Neb.) and Jack Reed (D-R.I.), both critics of the war.
The U.S. delegation's first stop in Iraq was the southern city of
Basra, where the Iraqi army -- with sup****t from U.S. and British
troops -- recently wrested control from extremist ****ite militias. The
senators did not venture into the city center, where about 30,000
Iraqi soldiers patrol the streets.
Instead, they remained at the Basra base for about three hours,
receiving what Maj. Tom Holloway, a British military spokesman, called
a "situational update" from British, Iraqi and U.S. military
commanders.
Gen. Muhammad Jawad Huweidy, the top Iraqi military commander in Basra
province, said Obama did not discuss troop withdrawals or Iraqi troop
readiness, instead focusing on Basra's economic conditions.
In Baghdad, a red carpet with yellow trim was unfurled at 1:50 p.m.
outside Maliki's residence. Ten minutes later, the senators and their
entourages arrived, accompanied by U.S. Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker and
David M. Satterfield, the State Department's Iraq coordinator. After
meeting with Maliki for nearly an hour, Obama declined to say what
they discussed.
Obama's convoy arrived next at the residence of Iraqi President Jalal
Talabani. Talabani, chief of staff Naseer al-Ani and two other senior
advisers were waiting to greet the senator.
After that meeting, the delegation visited with Iraq's Sunni Vice
President Tariq al-Ha****mi. They discussed Iraq's political and
security conditions, displaced Iraqis and Iraqi forces' readiness for
U.S. troops to withdraw, according to a statement from Ha****mi's
office.
Members of Obama's group later said he suggested in the meeting that
to build on the reduction in violence and help Iraqis prepare to
increase their responsibilities, the United States must responsibly
remove its combat brigades and leave no permanent bases. Obama also
expressed sup****t for giving U.S. troops immunity from Iraqi
prosecution while they are in Iraq.
The delegation also met Adel Abdul Mahdi, the ****ite vice president.
Obama later toured the U.S. military hospital inside the Green Zone
and took a helicopter ride over Baghdad with Gen. David H. Petraeus,
the top U.S. commander in Iraq, with whom he was to dine.
The delegation began its trip with two days in Afghanistan, then flew
to Kuwait.
Obama, a first-term senator who is seeking to persuade voters that he
has enough foreign policy experience to succeed in the Oval Office, is
scheduled to travel to Jordan, Israel, Germany, France and Britain by
the end of the week.
Interviewed on NBC's "Today" show on Monday morning, Obama's
Republican rival, Sen. John McCain, said he "was glad" Obama was
meeting with Petraeus and hearing firsthand about the buildup of U.S.
troops over the past year.
"I hope he will have a chance to admit that he badly misjudged the
situation, and that he was wrong when he said the surge wouldn't work,
and admit that the surge has succeeded and that we are winning the
war," McCain said.
Eggen re****ted from Wa****ngton. Special correspondents Qais Mizher,
Zaid Sabah, Aziz Alwan and Saad al-Izzi in Baghdad contributed to this
re****t.
http://www.wa****ngtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/20/AR2008072001416.html
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