Maliki Obama 'Endorsement' Withdrawn

The German magazine Der Spiegel sent the mainstream media and the American left into a tizzy this weekend when it reported that Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki endorsed Sen. Barack Obama's timetable for withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. At first glance, the story seemed like a shot to the ribs of the McCain campaign, which has worked hard to gain the public's trust on the issue of the war in Iraq and national security in general. The trouble for the media, and Obama supporters, is that there was no Maliki endorsement.

A spokesman in the Prime Minister's office disputed the magazine's characterization of Maliki's remarks, calling them, "misunderstood, mistranslated and not conveyed accurately." Ali al-Dabbagh said that rather than an arbitrary timeline, such as the 16 months that Sen. Obama supports, conditions on the ground would dictate the pace of American troop withdrawals. He also said that the continuance of security improvements in Iraq would be a necessary precondition of any troop drawdown.

Maliki's comments come in advance of Obama's visit to Iraq, and in that context, are really not surprising. Maliki has domestic political considerations of his own, and as a consequence, has long been calling for a diminishing U.S. presence in Iraq. That is the popular position in Iraq. He also knows that he may well have a President Obama to deal with in a few months. So paying a lip service compliment to Obama's plan was also a wise political move. But the reality is that Iraqi security forces, though vastly improved thanks to the troop surge, are not yet ready to handle the day-to-day security responsibilities in the country. Until they are, the U.S. must stay as their back-up and support. This is the reason that Maliki's office was so swift to correct the record.