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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.