Posted on 09/17/2008 4:10:11 AM PDT by IrishMike
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 negotiation - the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA, to set rules governing US military personnel in Iraq) and the Strategic Framework Agreement (SFA, to settle the legal basis for the US military presence in Iraq in the months and years ahead).
The Obama camp says I confused the two. It continues: "On the Status of Forces Agreement, Sen. Obama has always said he hoped that the US and Iraq would complete it - but if they did not, the option of extending the UN mandate should be considered.
"As to the Strategic Framework Agreement, Sen. Obama has consistently said that any security arrangements that outlast this administration should have the backing of the US Congress - especially given the fact that the Iraqi parliament will have the opportunity to vote on it."
If there is any confusion, it's in Obama's position - for the two agreements are interlinked: You can't have any US military presence under one agreement without having settled the other accord.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
I really like that Taheri guy.
Thanks for the great post!
From the article:
In a long interview with the pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat, Zebari says: “Obama asked me why, in view of the closeness of a change of administration, we were hurrying the signing of this special agreement, and why we did not wait until the coming of the new administation next year and agree on some issues and matters.”
Obama is an unabashed liar.
Actually, I was wondering if Obama’s trip overseas was for just this sort of reason, to undermine and make Geo. W. look bad.
Now this is a HUGE scandal, and yet all the media cares about is the non-scandal of Palin’s troopergate.
When Obama call you a liar, it usually means you nailed the truth.
Nice new pic below of Obamassiah. When I first saw it, I didn't think it looked like him very much.
But as I tilted my head to my right shoulder while still looking at the pic.....IT'S HIM!!
Breaking ?
I am waiting for someone, obviously it won’t be Bill O’Reilly....to ask Biden...about his long held idea that Iraq should be carved up into three separate countries....
bingo - BTTTT
Like the article says, the sob wants to take credit for the Iraq war. He now admits that the surge and everything else has worked.
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/06/16/1146329.aspx
[Obama] 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 hold off on such negotiations until the next administration.
"My concern is that the Bush administration--in a weakened state politically--ends up trying to rush an agreement that in some ways might be binding to the next administration, whether it was my administration or Sen. McCain's administration," Obama said. "The foreign minister agreed that the next administration should not be bound by an agreement that's currently made."
In other words,Obama was trying to derail current US policy, while Zebari was urging him not to "waste time."
Just felt the need to yell that part "from the highest mountain"!!
forget troopergate!
Let’s talk about that tanning bed!
BTTT!
“Like the article says, the sob wants to take credit for the Iraq war. He now admits that the surge and everything else has worked.”
The only thing I remember from his greek temple speech was trying to take credit for success in Iraq.
Can you believe it?
Actually claiming he was right and McCain was wrong?
The troops will come home because of OBAMA??
It’s like he lives in some parallel mirror image universe.
Zero has violated the Logan act. When will this be openly discussed?
” Here is how NBC reported Obama’s position on June 16, after his conversation in the US with Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari: “Obama also told Zebari, he said, that Congress should be involved in any negotiations regarding a Status of Forces Agreement with Iraq. He suggested it may be better to wait until the next administration to negotiate such an agreement.”
In other words, Obama wanted a delay on the Status of Forces Agreement, not on the Strategic Framework Agreement - as his rebuttal now claims.”
The money quote.
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