Free Republic

Many analysts believe that the US draw down in Iraq is damaging to Obama’s electoral chances. And now information is emerging that Obama acted to keep troops deployed. In a September 15 New York Post editorial, CNN and BBC contributor Amir Taheri writes that, according to Iraq’s Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, Senator Obama in June told visiting Iraqi officials that President Bush’s government was in a ‘”state of weakness and political confusion’” so the negotiations should be postponed until after the election.

Earlier this week, I wrote about the dirty tricks campaign against journalist Amir Taheri following his revelation that, in a private meeting in Iraq last July with Iraqi leaders, Barack Obama tried to persuade them to delay the agreement being hammered out with the US government on a draw-down of the American military presence. According to this account, which quoted Iraq’s foreign minister Hoshya Zebari (pictured), Obama had thus privately sought to undermine an American government foreign policy initiative – an explosive revelation. Taheri subsequently dismissed as tendentious Camp Obama’s response which he said deliberately confused two separate agreements under...

On Sunday, the Chief of Staff of the Iraqi Joint Forces, General Babaker Zebari, called for the expansion of military ties between Tehran and Baghdad during a meeting with the commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards' ground forces, Gen. Mohammad Pakpouron. The meeting came in the wake of President Obama's announcement, in October, that all US forces would be withdrawn from Iraq by year's end, and on the heels of the President's failure [and apparent unwillingness] to negotiate a deal with Iraq that would enable a residual US force to remain in the country to help train Iraqi troops and...

Iraqis want victory in the war; Obama wants victory in the election.The status of forces agreement (SOFA) can be regarded as the crown jewel of the U.S.-led change in Iraq. ItÂ’s not an overstatement to say that it represents an aspect of victory in this war. By victory I mean that it will mark the beginning of a time in which Iraq is officially a partner of the U.S., as it will join Iraq and the U.S. in a new relationship that serves the national interests of both countries. Above all, it will be a major boost for the effort...

The Statement: Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin said at a campaign stop near Cincinnati, Ohio, on October 10 that "Senator Obama tried to make a secret deal with the Iraqi government" to delay an agreement that would spell out the U.S. troop presence in Iraq. Referring to an October 10 Washington Times article, Palin said Obama "tried to influence negotiations with Iraqi leaders in a way that would set back America's cause there."

[quote]EXCLUSIVE: At the same time the Bush administration was negotiating a still elusive agreement to keep the U.S. military in Iraq, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama tried to convince Iraqi leaders in private conversations that the president shouldn't be allowed to enact the deal without congressional approval.[/quote]

At the same time the Bush administration was negotiating a still elusive agreement to keep the U.S. military in Iraq, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama tried to convince Iraqi leaders in private conversations that the president shouldn't be allowed to enact the deal without congressional approval.

Hope this isn't duplicate - I did search first.

WASH TIMES Friday: Obama secretly tried to sway Iraqi government to ignore Bush deal on keeping troops in Iraq... Developing...

FLINT, Mich. -- Obama reiterated his commitment to withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq during a telephone conversation this morning with the country's foreign minister, he told reporters in a 10-minute press conference on the tarmac here. ... He said he told Zebari that negotiations for a Status of Forces agreement or strategic framework agreement between the two countries should be done in the open and with Congress's authorization and that it was important that that there be strong bipartisan support for any agreement so that it can be sustained through a future administration. He argued it would make sense to...

Earlier this week, the campaign of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., seized upon a column in the New York Post that described Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., as having urged Iraqi leaders in a private meeting to delay coming to an agreement with the Bush administration on the status of U.S. troops. "Obama has tried in private to persuade Iraqi leaders to delay an agreement on a drawdown of the American military presence," Post columnist Amir Taheri wrote, quoting Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, who told the Post that Obama, during his meeting with Iraqi leaders in July, "asked why we were...

What happens when Democrats get their wires crossed? What happens when drivel like “Change you can believe in” collides with such malarkey as “our commitment to the Rule of Law”? Fraud happens. The etymology, by the way, traces to the Latin word fraus - which the Obama campaign might bear in mind if it’s planning to whip up any more of those mock presidential seals. Or, for that matter, mock presidential addresses. Sen. Barack Obama has just bestowed another of these upon us: a two-minute political ad on a Wall Street upheaval so sudden the campaign didn’t have time to...

"...Two officials of the Bush administration say that if Obama had done what the Post story asserted – which they believe to be untrue – U.S. Ambassador Crocker and embassy officials attending the meeting would have ensured that the Bush administration heard about it immediately. If such an incident occurred in front of officials of the Bush administration, it would have constituted a foreign policy breach and would have been front-page huge news; it would not have leaked out two months later in an op-ed column..."

Write your congress critters!!!!!

Last weekend a traffic jam several miles long snaked out of the Mansour district in western Baghdad. The delay stemmed not from a car bomb closing the road but from a queue to enter the city's central amusement park. The line became so long some families left their cars and walked to enjoy picnics, fairground rides and soccer, the Iraqi national obsession. Across the city, restaurants are slowly filling and shops are reopening. The streets are busy. Iraqis are not cowering indoors. The appalling death tolls from suicide attacks are often high because of crowding at markets. These days you...

Viral on!

Obama Objects By Amir Taheri New York Post | Thursday, September 18, 2008 IN Monday's Post, I discussed how Barack Obama, during his July trip, had asked Iraqi leaders not to finalize an agreement vital to the future of US forces in Iraq - and how the effect of such a delay would be to postpone the departure of the US from Iraq beyond the time Obama himself calls for. The Obama campaign has objected. While its statement says my article was "filled with distortions," the rebuttal actually centers on a technical point: the differences between two Iraqi-US accords under...

Story growing legs? I'm surprised it's being folowed up on.

From “Move America Forward” PAC, this TV commercial hits Obama hard on playing politics with the lives of American troops. I agree with Hot Air that Obama’s interference with the Executive Branch on war-time negotiations is the most egregious offense (the Logan Act felony). But I believe that this ad hits exactly the right note for most Americans. I predict that it will be very effective. The ad is due to air this week. (click to see ad)

The Obama campaign spent more than five hours on Monday attempting to figure out the best refutation of the explosive New York Post report that quoted Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari as saying that Barack Obama during his July visit to Baghdad demanded that Iraq not negotiate with the Bush Administration on the withdrawal of American troops. Instead, he asked that they delay such negotiations until after the presidential handover at the end of January. The three problems, according to campaign sources: The report was true, there were at least three other people in the room with Obama and Zebari...