Say Anything Blog

The presidential candidate who has contented himself to pontificate about US policy in Iraq, without going there to see for himself, without speaking with General Petraeus and the other theater commanders, and without meeting with any of the leaders of the freely–elected Iraqi government, now finds himself on the horns of a dilemma where the withdrawal of US forces is concerned.  From the BBC:

US presidential contender Barack Obama has repeatedly seized on statements attributed to Iraqi leaders to support his call for a troop withdrawal deadline.

The key statement cited by Mr Obama and others was made by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki last Monday in his address to Arab ambassadors in the United Arab Emirates.

The prime minister was widely quoted as saying that in the negotiations with the Americans on a Status of Forces Agreement to regulate the US troop presence from next year, “the direction is towards either a memorandum of understanding on their evacuation, or a memorandum of understanding on a timetable for their withdrawal”.

That was the version of Mr Maliki’s remarks put out in writing by his office in Baghdad.

It was widely circulated by the news media, and caught much attention, including that of Mr Obama.

There is only one problem. It is not what Mr Maliki actually said.

In an audio recording of his remarks, heard by the BBC, the prime minister did not use the word “withdrawal”.

What he actually said was: “The direction is towards either a memorandum of understanding on their evacuation, or a memorandum of understanding on programming their presence.”

Mr Maliki’s own office had inserted the word “withdrawal” in the written version, replacing the word “presence”.

Contacted by the BBC, the prime minister’s office had no explanation for the apparent contradiction. An official suggested the written version remained the authoritative one, although it is not what Mr Maliki said.

The impression of a hardening Iraqi government line was reinforced the following day by comments from the National Security Adviser, Muwaffaq al-Rubaie.

He was quoted as saying that Iraq would not accept any agreement which did not specify a deadline for a full withdrawal of US troops.

Significantly, Mr Rubaie was speaking immediately after a meeting with the senior Shiite clerical eminence, Ayatollah Ali Sistani.

But in subsequent remarks, Mr Rubaie rode back from a straightforward demand for a withdrawal deadline.

He said the talks were focused on agreeing on “timeline horizons, not specific dates”, and said that withdrawal timings would depend on the readiness of the Iraqi security forces.

One of the most common liberal rips against President Bush has been his lack of “nuance” in the areas of US foreign and national defense policy.  A bogus charge if there ever was one.

But now, obviously, the Democrats’ candidate to replace Mr. Bush has his own issues with “nuance” in the conduct of foreign policy… never mind an increasingly disturbing question about the integrity of his various positions… on nearly every issue he’s addressed.

H/T:Wretchard