Senator Barack Obama Visits Iraq

Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama met Iraqi leaders and U.S. military commanders in Baghdad on Monday in a visit with the main focus of when U.S. troops should go home. The U.S. strategy in Iraq and troop levels are central issues in the November election race between senator Obama and Republican candidate Senator John McCain. Senator Obama was in Baghdad to assess security in Iraq.
Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said Senator Obama did not mention his pledge to remove U.S. combat troops within 16 months if he takes office in talks with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. But in comments suggesting Iraq and Obama are not far apart on the timeframe, Dabbagh said Baghdad's goal was for foreign combat forces to leave by the end of 2010 if security conditions allowed.

On Sunday, Mr. Dabbagh denied Maliki had told a German magazine in an interview that he backed Senator Obama's troop withdrawal timeframe. Mr. Dabbagh had said no government statement should be seen as support for either U.S. presidential candidate. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was interviewed by the German magazine Der Spiegel, and his words seemed to come straight from Obama’s talking points.

“Would you hazard a prediction as to when most of the US troops will finally leave Iraq?” Der Spiegel asked.

“As soon as possible, as far as we’re concerned,” Maliki answered. “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.”

“Is this an endorsement for the U.S. presidential election in November?” the magazine followed up. “Does Obama, who has no military background, ultimately have a better understanding of Iraq than war hero John McCain?”

“Those who operate on the premise of short time periods in Iraq today are being more realistic,” Maliki said. “Artificially prolonging the tenure of US troops in Iraq would cause problems. Of course, this is by no means an election endorsement. Who they choose as their president is the Americans’ business. But it’s the business of Iraqis to say what they want. And that’s where the people and the government are in general agreement: The tenure of the coalition troops in Iraq should be limited.”
The Iraqi government quickly released a statement saying that Der Spiegel had “misunderstood and mistranslated” Maliki’s remarks, and that Maliki’s words “should not be understood as support to any U.S. presidential candidates.” But the Iraqis didn’t offer any alternate version of what Maliki had said. The Obama campaign quickly accepted what appeared to be Maliki’s endorsement.

Senator Obama visited Afghanistan over the weekend, the other big foreign policy challenge the next president will face. He called the situation in Afghanistan "precarious and urgent" and said Washington should start planning to transfer more troops there from Iraq.

Senator Obama, who is visiting Iraq as part of a U.S. congressional delegation, was greeted at Baghdad's airport by General David Petraeus, the U.S. military commander in the country. He will hold formal talks later with Petraeus. Senator Obama will also travel to other countries in the Middle East and visit major powers in Europe this week.