[Der Speigel] 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.
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.
Well, I still think we need the bases, as would any serious person.
After all, they might be useful when we move the war into Afghanistan.
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Not endorsing Obama?
Who does he think he's kidding?
I mean, he's managed a flip-flop/WARM (What Al-Maliki Really Meant) of such stunning virtuousity that its clear that he idolizes Obama, and wants to be just like him!
Juan Cole
Whenever what's going on in Iraq becomes unclear, I always mosey over to the "Informed Comment" blog and see what Juan Cole thinks is going on. Good idea on this one.
Horselover Fat
"A lie told often enough becomes truth."
- V. I. Lenin
H F
Linky goodness
and a coupla quotes would be much appreciated, HLF. :-)
Go Global!
Guess I need figure out how to link then...
http://www.juancole.com/
The topmost story is largely Der Spiegel and Maliki...
Der Spiegel post
"As is usual with news it does not like, the Bush administration attempted to muddy the waters this weekend regarding the interview of PM Nuri al-Maliki with Der Spiegel in which he expressed approval of Barack Obama's plan to get US troops out of Iraq within 16 months of next January. Al-Maliki told Der Spiegel in response to a question about how long US troops would be in his country,"...
"Ali al-Dabbagh, who is usually described as al-Maliki's spokesman but actually seems to work for the CENTCOM or Pentagon Middle East command, was trotted out to make vague statements about Der Spiegel's having mistranslated or misinterpreted what al-Maliki said.
"Der Spiegel stood by its story. The text of Der Spiegel's statement is here. It turns out that the translator involved works for al-Maliki, not for Der Spiegel, and so presumably knew what the prime minister's words meant in Arabic. And for the piece de resistance, it turns out that Der Spiegel has an audiotape of the Arabic of the interview, which they leaked to The New York Times. Sabrina Tavernise and Jeff Zeleny write:..."
all sorts of linkys at Juan Cole
Is there a way to blockquote here???
Horselover Fat
"A lie told often enough becomes truth."
- V. I. Lenin
H F
You seem to link just fine
You can blockquote as well, just use the "blockquote" tags!
Go Global!