Barack Obama,  George W. Bush,  Iraq,  Iraq War,  John McCain,  President 2008

Iraqi Prime Minister al-Maliki Supports Obama’s Withdrawal Plans After Bush Wins War; Update: Al-Maliki’s Remarks Misunderstood, Mistranslated and Not Conveyed Accurately

+++++Update+++++

Now, a spokesman has said that al-Maliki’s remarks “were misunderstood, mistranslated and not conveyed accurately.”

Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said the possibility of troop withdrawal was based on the continuance of security improvements, echoing statements that the White House made Friday after a meeting between al-Maliki and U.S. President Bush.

Al-Maliki

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki says he agrees with US presidential candidate Barack Obama’s plans for withdrawing US troops from Iraq

The LEFT and Team Obama will try to spin Iraqi Prime Minister’s Nuri al-Maliki’s interview with Speigel Online – even with the change in the quote.

The first quote:

SPIEGEL: Would you hazard a prediction as to when most of the US troops will finally leave Iraq?

Maliki: As soon as possible, as far as we’re concerned. US presidential candidate Barack Obama is right when he talks about 16 months. Assuming that positive developments continue, this is about the same time period that corresponds to our wishes.

The changed quote:

SPIEGEL: Would you hazard a prediction as to when most of the US troops will finally leave Iraq?

Maliki: As soon as possible, as far as we’re concerned. U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama talks about 16 months. That, we think, would be the right timeframe for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes.

Read the entire Speigel interview here.

And, then read the shortened pro-Obama Reuters version.

What Reuters and other news accounts will fail to emphasize is that under Barack Obama’s anti-SURGE policy, Prime Minister al-Maliki would not be in the postion to see an American withdrawal of combat troops. It is because of the success of General Petraeus and President Bush that the United States has won the Iraq War.

Let’s look at Obama’s quotes about the SURGE:

  • In October 2006–three months before the president’s new strategy was unveiled–Obama said, “It is clear at this point that we cannot, through putting in more troops or maintaining the presence that we have, expect that somehow the situation is going to improve, and we have to do something significant to break the pattern that we’ve been in right now.”
  • On January 10, 2007, the night the surge was announced, Obama declared, “I am not persuaded that 20,000 additional troops in Iraq are going to solve the sectarian violence there. In fact, I think it will do the reverse.”
  • A week later, he insisted the surge strategy would “not prove to be one that changes the dynamics significantly.”
  • And in reaction to the president’s January 23 State of the Union address, Obama said, I don’t think the president’s strategy is going to work. We went through two weeks of hearings on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; experts from across the spectrum–military and civilian, conservative and liberal–expressed great skepticism about it. My suggestion to the president has been that the only way we’re going to change the dynamic in Iraq and start seeing political commendation is actually if we create a system of phased redeployment. And, frankly, the president, I think, has not been willing to consider that option, not because it’s not militarily sound but because he continues to cling to the belief that somehow military solutions are going to lead to victory in Iraq.

Democrat Senate Majority leader Harry Reid and Senator Barack Obama said the war was “LOST” and the surge would not and did not work. Now, the Democrats are spinning the credit for peace in Iraq that President Bush and pro-SURGE pols, such as John McCain rightly deserve. The Iraq War is over – America won.

Fancy that and the MSM like Reuters are happy to spin the story for Obama and the Democrats.

But, will the media get away with it with the American voters?

Stay tuned……..


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