This headline will be the theme all week long on the newscasts.
Posted on 07/21/2008 9:41:31 AM PDT by Bishop_Malachi
BAGHDAD - Iraq’s government welcomed Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Monday with word that it apparently shares his hope that U.S. combat forces could leave by 2010.
The statement by Iraq’s government spokesman, Ali al-Dabbagh, followed talks between Obama and Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki — who has struggled for days to clarify Iraq’s position on a possible timetable for a U.S. troop pullout.
Al-Dabbagh said the government did not endorse a fixed date, but hoped American combat units could be out of Iraq sometime in 2010. That timeframe falls within the 16-month withdrawal plan proposed by Obama, who arrived in Iraq earlier in the day as part of a congressional fact-finding team.
“We are hoping that in 2010 that combat troops will withdraw from Iraq,” al-Dabbagh told reporters, noting that any withdrawal plan was subject to change if the level of violence kicks up again.
Obama made no public statements following the talks with al-Maliki and President Jalal Talabani in Baghdad’s heavily protected Green Zone. Obama also plans meetings with U.S. military commanders who will outline recent progress in the war he has opposed from the start.
This was the third stop on a foreign tour designed to gather information while burnishing the Democratic contender’s foreign policy credentials. National security issues are the one issue area in which Obama trails Republican John McCain in the polls.
The Iraqi government comment on troop withdrawals could be embraced by the Obama campaign, but may irritate White House officials. The Bush administration has refused to set specific troop level targets and only last week offered to discuss a “general time horizon” for a U.S. combat troop exit.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
I wonder if the Iraqis share his love of abortion and gay marriage.
So the “Magic Tricycle Tour,” has now arrived in Iraq.
Hussein wanted to withdraw all troops since 2005,denied the surge would work, then said the opposite.
If Barry Hussein had had his way in 2005, Iraq would be an Al-Qaeda terrorist state by now.
This neohpyte is extremely dangerous in his ignorance.
The Dalai Obama has so spoken.
MSNBC is the elect Obama channel.
For all the blood that men in the Armed Services have spilled upon the sands of Mesopotamia, Iraq should at the very least grant us full military access to that country as we please. If this means a permanent base, so be it.
When B.H. Obama speaks.. MSNBC employees swoon
Mr. Obama couldn’t run a Burger King.
He also changes his mind more than a 16-year-old searching for a prom dress.
A little title tweaking to meet their agenda?
Negotiation 101: We can always pull out more troops if conditions change, but it is in America's interest to have the flexibility to stay longer if that need arises.
Can't someone point out it is inappropriate for Obama to be interfering as part of his campaign?
I would think that is the plan, not the RATS of course, but Bush's and the military commanders. At least until Iran is no longer a threat to anyone, and Iran's terrorists groups around Israel Hesbollah and Hamas are no more as well. Russia no doubt has it's own plans for Iran, so permanent bases around it only make sense.
We all want the combat to stop, and the troops come home. None likely more than our warfighters themselves.
But any idiot can also know that as soon as you set a date, you’ve guaranteed that it will be longer than that. By NOT setting a date, we might even be finished ~sooner~. Really.
We can’t trust a thing the fawning mediabots are saying about Obama’s trip to the middle east.
This headline will be the theme all week long on the newscasts.
A country cannot be considered liberated if another country has “full military access to that country as we please”.
If Iraq is sovereign then they can decided what happens in their country.
Thus why I said “Iraq should grant us full military access”, I did not say “the United States should force Iraq to give us full military access”. Read the post, thanks.
ABC radio news just lied by saying that the pullout will happen in 2010.
And if they decide to invite al qaeda in and ally with Iran you wouldn’t have a problem with that?
Exactly.
It is illegal for him to negotiate on anything especially military matters.
He is a junior senator not the CIC.
I am going to set a date for when I won’t have to support my children anymore...........whether they are actually ready or not.
Shouldn't he have talked to our commanders and gotten their views before talking to the Iraqis.
He shouldn’t be negotiating with anyone about our troops.
He is undercutting foreign policy to his benefit.
He shouldn’t be campaigning in Germany either.
please! Don’t insult Burger King Managers. Hard work. Obama
would’nt know which end of the broom to push.
Obama is a slick guy but has zero substance.
I am quite certain that when Bush okayed the construction of our fancy $1 billion dollar US Embassy sitting on its 104 acre compound in Baghdad that he was thinking we would have permanent military bases all over Iraq.
The same way we were told that Iraq would help pay for the war, just a dream statement to keep us voters calm.
Obama hopes the troops will be out by March of 2008, NOT 2010.
If Obama could do so today, he'd start today, and they would be out by November of 2009.
The only way Obama leaves them in until 2010 is if he doesn't start withdraw until January of 2009, in which case he has them all our by early 2010, NOT the end of 2010 like the Iraq government is talking about.
And while Iraq "hopes" that US troops can be withdrawn, Barack does not "HOPE" at all -- he will simply do so, whether they CAN be taken out or not. Iraq HOPES the situation is good enough that we can remove our troops. McCain HOPES that the situation is good enough to remove our troops. Obama doesn't care, he will remove our troops whether the situation is good or bad.
The Dems do nothing but lie. Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki issued a statement that he did not agree with BHO on the withdrawal. It was not widely reported but you notice they are now saying he “apparently” agrees with Obama. That way when people start raising he** about it they can back pedal easier.
Oh good grief! The USA and Iraq have been working on an agreement for the past 6 months to draw down the troops. Obama is meaningless in the equation.
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