RUSH: On Summer Trip to Iraq, Obama Tried to Delay US Troop Pullout
Posted on 09/15/2008 2:06:48 PM PDT by Plutarch
Barack Obama’s campaign denied a New York Post report Monday that said the Democratic presidential candidate privately tried to persuade Iraqi political leaders to stall an agreement on scaling back American troops in Iraq while publicly campaigning for a speedy withdrawal.
Obama’s request for a delay was a major theme of his talks with Iraqi leaders in Baghdad in July, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said in an interview with the Post.
Obama also tried to persuade the U.S. commanders, including Gen. David Petraeus, to offer a “realistic withdrawal date,” the Post reported. The commanders declined, the newspaper said.
A top foreign policy adviser to Obama sat in on the meetings between the candidate and Iraqi officials this summer and said no such conversations occurred, the campaign said Monday.
Obama has said he wants U.S. troops out of Iraq as rapidly as possible, and while the U.S. negotiates a Status of Forces Agreement with Iraq, Obama wants that brought to Congress.
According to the report in the Post, Obama said he wants the Bush administration excluded from the negotiations, given its “state of weakness and political confusion.”
[...excerpt]
(Excerpt) Read more at elections.foxnews.com ...
Oh well, not the first person O-bully threw under the bus.
Mighty big bus before this election is over and McCain/Palin are inaugurated.
Even if nothing more comes of the story, it did for the Obama campaign to reveal something they haven’t said before.
Obama had a handler with him when he was talking to the foreign leader. We were led to believe he had “private talks” with people, but now the Obama campaign has claimed that Obama was NEVER ALONE with a leader, that he had a handler sitting in on every meeting.
Not surprising, because Obama is not ready to talk with leaders of other countries. But nice for the Obama campaign to finally admit it.
They should ask General Petraeus. I’ll believe him.
That actually was a very odd part of the story.
Literally, the journalist has written that the Barack Obama campaign says that there was an advisor in the meeting (unnamed) and that this advisor says Obama didn’t say anything.
But I presume the campaign also said that Obama was in the meeting, and that Obama says he didn’t say anything.
But since it’s the CAMPAIGN giving the report, if they were lying about what Obama said, why wouldn’t they lie about what the “advisor” said.
So, why isn’t the advisor quoted? Why doesn’t the article say “the advisor says”?
Worse, why isn’t the advisor named? This isn’t a secret source — the OBAMA CAMPAIGN is releasing the information. So why didn’t the journalist insist on speaking with the advisor, and providing his name?
Very strange.
I doubt any news outlet would debunk a claim against Palin by saying “It’s not true, the campaign says so”.
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Barack Obama’s campaign denied a New York Post report Monday that said the Democratic presidential candidate privately tried to persuade Iraqi political leaders to stall an agreement on scaling back American troops in Iraq while publicly campaigning for a speedy withdrawal.
Obama’s request for a delay was a major theme of his talks with Iraqi leaders in Baghdad in July, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said in an interview with the Post.
Obama also tried to persuade the U.S. commanders, including Gen. David Petraeus, to offer a “realistic withdrawal date,” the Post reported. The commanders declined, the newspaper said.
A top foreign policy adviser to Obama sat in on the meetings between the candidate and Iraqi officials this summer and said no such conversations occurred, the campaign said Monday.
Obama has said he wants U.S. troops out of Iraq as rapidly as possible, and while the U.S. negotiates a Status of Forces Agreement with Iraq, Obama wants that brought to Congress.
According to the report in the Post, Obama said he wants the Bush administration excluded from the negotiations, given its “state of weakness and political confusion.”
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Can someone kindly define what a Status of Forces Agreement is, and why delay would be an issue?
The New York Times has now verified this story.
Obama is in deep doo doo if he keeps denying it.
Despite all the ridiculous things that Obama has said and the number of times he has demonstrated either a lack of complete understanding about a situation or a lack of good judgment, the liberal mantra continues to be that democrats are smart and Bush, McCain, and Palin are stupid. It's really tiresome.
Back on D. Good.
Taheri is Iranian, and very trustworthy. He has been reporting about the Mullahs and Iranian issues for decades.
for freepers that are older than i am:
since when does a man running for president meet with foreign leaders and try to influence policy?
has there been any other candidates that have done this? (months before election)?
That's twice I've seen this in a Fox News story. As I recall, it was not in the Post article. Anyone have any info on that?
It was in the Post article:
" According to Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, Obama made his demand for delay a key theme of his discussions with Iraqi leaders in Baghdad in July." "He asked why we were not prepared to delay an agreement until after the US elections and the formation of a new administration in Washington," Zebari said in an interview."
if there is someone to corroborate, Obama will look awful.
Yup, and that’s the foreign minister being interviewed.
Would like to know more about the interview the POST guy did. When, where, what other items were covered et.
Would someone please explain to Obama that the U.S. Congress is not commander in chief, The President of the United States is.
Maybe I’m too old and out of touch with modern day strategy and tactics but I thought things like troop levels, strength, deployment and withdrawal schedules should be secret and not published throughout the world for all our enemies to see act upon. It’s like playing poker with all your cards up and all your opponents cards down. But, what do I know.
..While Obama played basketball..
But then, Sarah already has a Basketball Championship medal.....LOL
...and when did he know it?
I'm SURE the Congressional-Investigations-at-the-drop-of-a-hat Guru will form a Committee to see if the Messiah interfered in Foreign Affairs of the United States during wartime....
/sarc
CM55, do you have a link? I just checked their website and do not see anything on the front page. THx
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