Barack Obama - Iraq

Iraqi PM backs Obama troop plan

Sunday 20 July 2008

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has backed US Democratic presidential candidate Barak Obama's proposal for American troops to leave Iraq within 16 months, according to an interview with German magazine 'Der Spiegel'.

BERLIN, July 19 (Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri
al-Maliki told a German magazine he supported U.S. Democratic
presidential candidate Barack Obama's proposal that American
troops should leave Iraq within 16 months.
 

In an interview with Der Spiegel released on Saturday,
Maliki said he wanted U.S. troops to withdraw from Iraq as soon
as possible.
 

"U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama talks about 16
months. That, we think, would be the right time frame for a
withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes."
 

It is the first time he has backed the withdrawal timetable
put forward by Obama, who is visiting Afghanistan and is set to
go to Iraq as part of a tour of Europe and the Middle East.
 

Maliki's remarks were published a day after the White House
said he and U.S. President George W. Bush had agreed that a
security agreement currently being negotiated between them
should include a "time horizon" for withdrawal of U.S. troops.
 

Bush has long opposed setting a timetable for withdrawal,
and the White House said the time horizon agreed by the two
leaders was not as specific as a time frame pushed by Democrats
and could be adjusted based on conditions on the ground.
 

Obama's presumptive opponent in the November presidential
election, Republican Sen. John McCain, issued a statement from
his campaign that emphasized McCain's common ground with
Maliki.
 

"John McCain believes withdrawal must be based on
conditions on the ground," the statement said.
 

"Prime Minister Maliki has repeatedly affirmed the same
view, and did so again today. Timing is not as important as
whether we leave with victory and honor, which is of no
apparent concern to Barack Obama."
 

In his remarks in Der Spiegel, Maliki endorsed the more
specific 16-month timetable backed by Obama, but a White House
spokesman said there was no contradiction.
 

TROOP SHIFT TO AFGHANISTAN
 

"Our government has been in touch with Prime Minister
Maliki's office," White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said in
an e-mail. "In the interview, the prime minister made clear
that any decision will be based on continuing positive
developments."
 

Obama's campaign welcomed Maliki's support, with his senior
national security adviser Susan Rice saying, "This presents an
important opportunity to transition to Iraqi responsibility
while restoring our military and increasing our commitment to
finish the fight in Afghanistan."
 

Obama has called for a shift away from a "single-minded"
focus on Iraq and wants to pull out troops within 16 months
while adding U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan.
 

Asked if he supported Obama's ideas more than those of John
McCain, the Republican presidential candidate, Maliki said he
did not want to recommend who people should vote for.
 

"Whoever is thinking about the shorter term is closer to
reality. Artificially extending the stay of U.S. troops would
cause problems."
 

Maliki, who is due to visit Germany this week, has
suggested a timetable should be set for a U.S. withdrawal but
U.S. officials have been more cautious, despite an improving
security situation.
 

"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," Maliki told Der
Spiegel.
 

Some five years after the U.S.-led invasion, there are
still some 146,000 U.S. soldiers in Iraq.