Iraqi PM Maliki calls Obama's timetable "the right timeframeFollow

BERLIN - Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki says U.S. troops should leave Iraq "as soon as possible," according to a magazine report, and he called presidential candidate Barack Obama's suggestion of 16 months "the right timeframe for a withdrawal."

In an interview with Germany's Der Spiegel magazine released Saturday, al-Maliki said he was not seeking to endorse Obama. The Illinois senator and likely Democratic nominee has pledged to withdraw combat troops from Iraq within 16 months if he is elected.

"That, we think, would be the right timeframe for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes," al-Maliki was quoted as saying. "Those who operate on the premise of short time periods in Iraq today are being more realistic. Artificially prolonging the tenure of U.S. troops in Iraq would cause problems."

Asked when U.S. forces would leave Iraq, he responded, "As soon as possible, as far a we're concerned."
[...]
Obama's Republican presidential rival, John McCain, has supported Bush administration policy opposing a set timetable for taking troops out of Iraq. McCain's campaign did not return a call Saturday seeking comment on the Maliki interview.

Asked when U.S. forces would leave Iraq, he responded, "As soon as possible, as far a we're concerned."

I'm sure the Iraqi politician's/dictators,time will tell,are looking forward to running their country the way they see fit.In a region where retaining power means mass killings of anyone who is percieved as your enemy,they will probably be more effective at rooting out the resistance forces as they won't be under the microscope of the American media and left wing party.

Time will tell the story of whether it sticks or not.I don't see 6 years being enough time to change centuries of tradition in the way they do things over there.

I don't see 6 years being enough time to change centuries of tradition in the way they do things over there.

Like it or not we are there and have a responsibility to the people as we did invade their country.

I don't know why Obama is even bothering to go to Iraq.He is running on ending the the "war" there and is going to no matter what the situation is.

A Baghdad government spokesman, Ali al-Dabbagh, said in a statement that SPIEGEL had "misunderstood and mistranslated" the Iraqi prime minister, but didn't point to where the misunderstanding or mistranslation might have occurred. Al-Dabbagh said Maliki's comments "should not be understood as support to any US presidential candidates." The statement was sent out by the press desk of the US-led Multinational Force in Iraq.

A number of media outlets likewise professed to being confused by the statement from Maliki's office. The New York Times pointed out that al-Dabbagh's statement "did not address a specific error." CBS likewise expressed disbelief pointing out that Maliki mentions a timeframe for withdrawal three times in the interview and then asks, "how likely is it that SPIEGEL mistranslated three separate comments?" Matthew Yglesias, a blogger for the Atlantic Monthly, was astonished by "how little effort was made" to make the Baghdad denial convincing. And the influential blog IraqSlogger also pointed out the lack of specifics in the government statement.

SPIEGEL sticks to its version of the conversation.

The statement by an aide to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki calling his remarks in Der Spiegel "misinterpreted and mistranslated" followed a call to the prime minister's office from U.S. government officials in Iraq.
[...]
But after the Spiegel interview was published and 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, a Maliki aide released a statement saying the remarks had been misinterpreted, though without citing specific comments.

And how many lies has the New York Times been involved in?

The NYT is NOT a reliable source for acurate news.

The article its self says the title is misleading.

I have to take the blame for that. He wrote a post in the Gen EQ forum ******** about my old sig and, not wanting to debate in Gen EQ, I told him that those comments go here.