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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...

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.

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...

Barack Obama's statement denying secret negotiations with the Iraqi government on the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq in fact confirms Amir Taheri's allegations that the Illinois Senator made an end run around U.S. officials on the disposition of American forces. Obama's own statements reveal he indeed appealed to the Iraqi government for a delay in the withdrawal plans. In the New York Post, conservative Iranian-born columnist Amir Taheri quoted Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari as saying the Democrat made the demand when he visited Baghdad in July, while publicly demanding an early withdrawal. ... Obama's national security spokeswoman Wendy Morigi said...

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...

Preview and analysis for Weekend Talk Shows, 10-1-06 and 10-8-06 It's week five of the drive by media campaign to win back power in Washington for those who truly deserve it (in their minds), the Dhimmicrats.  This week the attention shifts away from President Bush, because their lame but continuous attacks were beginning to work for him.  Instead they are starting to point out to the ignorant boobs out there that the Republicans are really the party of homo values, kiddie porn, dirty talk and probably worse things, like drugs or even (horrors) rock and roll!  They fully expect all...

Weekend Talk Show *Preview* for Saturday June 17th and Sunday June 18th, 2006 (not the live thread)The main message is the Sunday Shows.  Message 1 will be the Saturday Shows and message 2 will be the show guest links post.  Then I'll post the ping list.ABC This Week (George Stephanopoulos) 'This Week' will NOT air on Sunday, June 18, due to ABC's coverage of World Cup soccer. 'This Week' returns on Sunday, June 25ABC This Week comment web page CBS Face The Nation (Bob Schieffer) Meme: Big couple of weeks for Bush in Iraq, so what's wrong with this picture?Tony...

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari has asserted that the trial of deposed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein would be held this year after the ratification of the constitution. He also held Syria and Iran in particular responsible for the influx of armed foreigners who are taking part in the attacks and bombings inside Iraq and denied that there are any plans to settle the Palestinian refugees in Iraq. In an interview with 'Asharq al-Awsat' in Amman, Zebari said, "There is popular pressure to try Saddam as soon as possible. We support holding this trial as soon as possible after taking the...

BRUSSELS, Belgium - Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari appealed Tuesday for NATO to quickly begin its promised mission to train his country's armed forces and provide assistance including military hardware. "We need this training ... to be carried out as soon as possible," Zebari told reporters at NATO headquarters. "We are in a race against time — it's a matter of urgency." NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said the 26 allies would decide this month on launching the training mission. He said the alliance would also consider Zebari's requests for military equipment, help guarding Iraq's borders and protection...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Kurdish parties warned Wednesday that they might bolt Iraq's new government if Shiites gain too much power. In another challenge to the interim administration, saboteurs blew up an oil pipeline, forcing a 10 percent cut in electricity output. Kurdish fears of Shiite domination rose after the Americans and British turned down their request to have a reference to the interim constitution — which enshrines Kurdish federalism — included in the U.N. resolution approved Tuesday. The country's most prominent Shiite leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani, warned he would not accept mention of the interim charter in the...

Iraqi minister tells UN to stop sniping, start helping Tue Dec 16, 1:57 PM ET UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - Iraq (news - web sites)'s foreign minister told the UN Security Council to stop bickering over the war that brought down Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) and come together to help rebuild his shattered nation. In a pointed address delivered with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan (news - web sites) on hand, Hoshyar Zebari said the United Nations (news - web sites) had failed to stand up to Saddam to defend the Iraqi people, and called for a swift UN...

PUTRAJAYA (AFP) - The bombings that killed at least six people in Baghdad Sunday were the work of "terrorists" out to derail Iraq's speedy return to normalcy, Iraq's interim Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said here Monday. Zebari also reiterated the Iraqi Governing Council's opposition to the participation of Turkish troops in an international peacekeeping force, and said the withdrawal of US forces from the country should be gradual. The security situation is a main challenge. There are many elements from the old regime, remnants of the defeated regime, plus some terrorists who have their own agenda, trying to stop this...

REBUILDING PLAN AGREED Free Iraqis have drawn up a 13-point plan to rebuild their country following the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime. The plan was agreed at US-hosted talks at Ur, the birthplace of the biblical prophet Abraham. The delegates also voted to meet again in 10 days' time. In a statement they said a future Iraqi government must be democratic, no leader must be imposed from outside, and the Baath party must be dissolved. As the meeting began, hundreds marched through the streets of nearby Nasiriyah protesting about US involvement in their country's future. They were concerned that the...