Maliki Endorses Obama's Iraq Plan

3 years ago

0 Comments Say Something »

Text Size

Contributor

Here's the quote that's sure to make ripples in the American political pond:

"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."

Who said it? Iraq's Prime MInister, Nuri al-Maliki. What was the context? An interview with Germany's popular magazine Der Spiegel. This can't be what John McCain wants to hear, especially with Obama about to arrive in Iraq, and then make his way to Germany. It's just more evidence of how McCain's dare is about to backfire. More Maliki:

"The Americans have found it difficult to agree on a concrete timetable for the exit because it seems like an admission of defeat to them. But it isn't."

Here's the Obama campaign's response, as delivered by Susan Rice:

"Senator Obama welcomes Prime Minister Malaki's support of a 16 month timeline for the redeployment of U.S. combat brigades. This represents an important opportunity to transition to Iraq responsibility, while restoring our military and increasing our commitment to finish the fight in Afghanistan."

Filed Under: Barack Obama, Breaking News, Iraq

Tagged: iraq, nuri al-maliki, NuriAl-maliki, withdrawal

Our New Approach to Comments

In an effort to encourage the same level of civil dialogue among Politics Daily’s readers that we expect of our writers – a “civilogue,” to use the term coined by PD’s Jeffrey Weiss – we are requiring commenters to use their AOL or AIM screen names to submit a comment, and we are reading all comments before publishing them. Personal attacks (on writers, other readers, Nancy Pelosi, George W. Bush, or anyone at all) and comments that are not productive additions to the conversation will not be published, period, to make room for a discussion among those with ideas to kick around. Please read our Help and Feedback section for more info.