As the blogosphere is abuzz with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s comments to Der Spiegel about Barack Obama’s 16-month timeframe for a withdrawal from Iraq, I would note that Allahpundit (with whom I diagreed elsewhere this morning) catches all the nuance, saving us all the time. Maliki’s comments are based on the assumption that positive trends continue, that al Qaeda and the militias are being defeated and that political reconciliation is ongoing. As such, Maliki’s comments do not differ much from the position of Pres. Bush.  Maliki is also not shy about placing the war casualties in the context of how Iraqis and other nations suffered under Saddam Hussein’s regime.
Allah returns to the question of what Obama’s position in 2007 says about his judgment. Allah cites Obama’s speech introducing his Iraq War De-escalation Act of 2007, but to be scrupulously fair to Obama, the bill itself provided that the withdrawal of US troops could be temporarily suspended if the Iraqi government met benchmarks laid out by the Bush administration, including: a reduction in sectarian violence; the equitable distribution of oil revenue; government reforms; and democratic, Iraqi-driven reconstruction and economic development efforts. The major flaw of the bill was its proposed cap on troops that would have blocked the surge, but given the reduction in violence attributable to the Awakening in Anbar, it is possible that even Obama’s timetable could have been extended.
However, to give Obama that much credit for nuance, I would then be required to note that Obama did not sell himself to Democratic primary voters as the candidate of nuance, but as the antiwar candidate of Change We Can Believe In. This is why I maintain that Obama should not be cut slack for his Extreme Makeover on Iraq; he has engaged in a flim-flam on a vital issue of national security for his political benefit. It does not inspire confidence as to his Judgment To Lead.
Another reason to hold Obama accountable for this flim-flam is that the establishment media is slavishly covering Obama’s current globetrot without much emphasis on the media’s own justification for such coverage – Obama’s lack of experience in foreign affairs. Indeed, even the pixelated stream of images of Obama meeting with VIPs in the war zone is (as the Washington Examiner’s Bill Sammon noted this morning on FNC) oddly reminiscent in quality of footage from the Mars Rover.
Update: CNN reports:
[A] spokesman for al-Maliki said his 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.
Shocka. As I noted below in the comments, reality has a tendency to intrude on this type of story.
Does Maliki’s interest in this push for US military exit happening to coincide with his trip to see Al Sistani get much play in the MSM, if any? I think the first I heard of it was from Omar Fadil (Iraq the Model) writing at PJM. As I remember Omar’s take, this concern was mainly undertaken for the purpose of assuring Maliki’s own political block and not necessarily something PM Maliki would pursue for it’s own sake.
Sounds like Baracky has promised reparations is how this reads to me.
– Are you kidding. Rvrn a passing mention using the phrase lack of foreign experience would get you thrown under the back of the MagicBusâ„¢.
– I would bet that starting with the actual trip, the only way you’ll see that phrase ever used by the MSM media mob is in some cream-puff question concerning “detractors” as a set up for some distraction and Obama spin.
– Something like, “Well, everyone knows that theres no more valuable experience for handling foreign affairs than community organizer®.”
I am amazed that now we have this thing basically won, the quote sweeping the nation is the one that makes Obama’s latest stance look right.
Where’s the nationwide celebration that we have a success on our hands? Gah. Everything revolves around Obama.
And yeah, it bothers me that al Maliki gave this speech to a German newspaper, given Obama’s globetrotting. Thanks, buddy.
For lunch today. I ate a sandwich as big as my head.
No shit.
I refuse to watch the news for at least the next week. FoxNews too. I bet they sent a high profile reporter to this traveling, jerk-off circus.
Everybody involved is a cocksucker!
Sorry. I lost the mortgage on the golfcourse today and I’m in a bad mood.
Son of a bitch holed out from a bunker 12′ feet below the green!
He couldn’t even see the flag…let alone the carpet!
How does that happen??
God hates me, that’s how.
Not sure what I did.
But I’m going to church tomorrow.
– Ok, they are giving out the sanitized coverage that you’re likely to see on this trip, this release covering his time in Afghanistan.
– Unless some non-partisan cops some un-fficial coverage, its obvious we’ll see nothing “off the cuff” from this circus.
– Unless something slips through the cracks in Berlin, all you’ll ever see is the carefully crafted Obama spin support by the three networks.
– Afterwords they’;; dust off their hands and say “there, now McCain can’t use Obamas lack of foreign experience against him anymore”.
– That is sum and substance of just how feckless the MSM and Obama’s campaign really is, and a loud and clear testimony to the contempt his people hold the US electorate in.
I went back and looked and find I got important things wrong. First, it was Mohammed, not Omar that wrote the piece. Second, Mohammed finds Maliki speaking indirectly to Iran as well as his political base.
To quote Fadil, “…In my opinion, the only reason that Maliki made his demand from the UAE and not from Baghdad is that he wanted to send a message of reassurance to Tehran: basically to reassure the Iranians that recent reinforcement of ties with Arab states and the planned reopening of their embassies does not necessarily mean that Iraq has become part of a US-Arab alliance against them. …”
And too, M. Fadil takes seriously the need to distinguish between Maliki’s position on withdrawal and the positions of Kurds, Sunnis and Americans who all differ with Maliki. Maliki’s word on the subject is neither the pre-eminent nor the final word.
– NO, its just C_d, pissed off that even he can’t hit a 2 iron.
“….does not necessarily mean that Iraq has become part of a US-Arab alliance against them. …—
– Good. Then let Iran rebuild his fucking country.
CNN is fawning over Obama’s basketball photo op in Kuwait with the troops, looping it between advertisements for their oh-so-timely “Black In America” (aka it’s whitey’s fault) special tomorrow night. It was a racial love fest in Kuwait, with a few white officers at the entry door of the gym, and the soldiers inside being 95+% black. Obama sank a three-pointer, the crowd cheered. “Chocolate ” candidate meets “chocolate” army, Rev. Wright’s wet dream. Jeebus Kryse. That wasn’t the Army I’ve seen leave Fort Stewart and return the last several years. I would really like to know how the Army picked Obama’s audience; it looked racist.
– Wellm if this entire election goes racial, and I’ve seen no evidence to indicate otherwise with Black voters going anywhewre from 89% to 97% for Obama, then it will simply be a case of the Left getting another lesson in math.
Indeed, even the pixelated stream of images of Obama meeting with VIPs in the war zone is (as the Washington Examiner’s Bill Sammon noted this morning on FNC) oddly reminiscent in quality of footage from the Mars Rover.Which raises an interesting — albeit totally off-topic — question: With the millions of dollars it cost to put those rovers on Mars, why did they equip them with $5.98 digital cameras? (Can you tell I’m oh so interested in the O’Bama boondoggle?)
Okaaay.. imagine the italicized bits above also being a blockquote. I think I need a nap.
Did he dunk?
I’m not saying I’d vote for him if he did. Just asking.
Cuz ‘if he wins,’ who knows…he might roar while hanging from the rim, rubbing his half-black junk in Ahmadinejad’s face.
Nahhh…that’s doubtful.
Yeah, yeah. Denounced. I know the drill.
There’s no fucking silver lining on his cloud is there?
N’O is right. We’re doomed.
I would caution everyone to not let the some of the blog reaction to Maliki’s comments obscure certain things. Maliki’s comments mention Obama because O! is coming and might be the next president. They are not out of line with what the US and Iraq appear to be headed toward in the Memo of understanding. Really, one of the points of the post (and I must have failed here) was to note that even Obama’s bill accepted that withdrawal should be affected by conditions on the ground — and that O!’s marketing to the contrary was the real problem.
As for how Maliki’s comments affect Iran, I think Maliki’s comments as a whole are directed toward projecting the image that he (and Iraq) will not be anyone’s puppet — not the US, and not Iran, either. Which is not only what I would expect given that Iraq is planning provincial elecions, but also what I would expect the prime minister of any country to project. I don’t think the US is upset that Maliki occasionally says things that help keep the level of Iran’s meddling down.
Moreover, I could be wrong, but I don’t see O!s trip changing the numbers much on whether O! has experience or would make the best CinC. I may not have emphasized enough that the subtext of the coverage is that O! getting foreign experience is news. It subconsciously reminds viewers that he has none. To those who pay more attention, it may sink in that O! was basically cowed into this trip by McCain, but even if not, most people get — at the level of “gut rationality” — that this trip is O! playing defense.
– Actually there is. If he ends up losing decisively, instead of this Magic Technicolor trench coat story that the Left expects, we might not have to listen to the birdbrained Socialism movement bullshit for a few decades.
It isn’t just blogs, Karl.
Foxnews.com:
– Yes Maybee. As I mentioned on another thread earlier, it looks like even FOX has caught the Black plague.
U.S. troops stopped being useful to Baracky when they stopped dying in sufficient numbers is all. Maliki thinks this sounds reasonable enough.
To back up Karl’s comment, has any body read this? It’s incredible.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121495565050121277.html
I’d bet those same conversations went on between South Korean business men and industrialists in Seoul restaurants in the late 50’s.
They were probably eating kimchi and dog, but that’s not important.
And yes, I’m retarded and don’t know how to make a link. Me caveman use Explorer without “comment section” tool bar on blog, me can no make linky.
Besides, Iran really really wants our troops to leave.
Hey, Lamont, thanks for that. It does a body good.
I guess my feeble point is, don’t we want Iraq to shove us off like a petulant teenager yelling, “I can do it. Let go!”?
It’s the Middle East. Most Iraqis thought after Saddam they were going to be literally ruled by George Bush. That’s their mind set. We’re not going to get “thank you’s” from them for a good 50 years.
That’s of course provided Obama doesn’t win and concede China to Japan so to speak.
Japan did drop that ONE bomb on us after all. That has to weigh on his mind when it comes to Iraq.
MayBee,
It’s not just blogs (it’s Reuters also), but they are the worst offenders. Allah now has an update in which Der Spiegel is starting to airbrush Maliki’s comments also.
And while O! will tout that for a while, reality will eventually intrude. It will become another of Maliki’s statements among a collection. And if the Memo gets signed, it will be obvious there’s flexibility built in. Which ultimately dilutes the political impact it has today.
This really sort of goes to both of my Iraq posts today — the dichotomy between what is said (by Obama, or Maliki) for the politics of the moment, and what is done in reality. My approach would be to focus on the latter as a way of dealing with the former.
Baracky will end this shameful chapter of American interventionism.
– #21 – From the article:
“Everyone nodded to the remark, except a couple of Egyptian communists sitting nearby. They dared not object, however.
My greatest fear – and it seems to be the case for all my new friends here – is the future of the American presence in Iraq. Our tongues and our minds have been freed, and yes we are heading home, but the Americans might run out of patience before we can make it.”
– Which “truthiness” should be stenciled on the foreheads of every Secular Progressive in existance.
Re: the WSJ article about the Iraqi expats
Allah also has a link to a NYT story from this past week in which regular Iraqis talk about how they would like the US to leave, but not too quickly. Which is pretty much everone’s opinion, whether it’s Iraq, the US or anywhere outside the proggosphere. If I was in Camp McCain, that’s what I would be pushing — that everone hopes for a significant drawdown, but that there is a fairly broad consensus that some US troops should stick around for a while as insurance and to help rebuild. And if the Dems challenge that, either throw O!’s own proposal in their faces, or tag them as on the fringe.
Good luck getting McCain to do anything he “should do” to win this election. If that were the case, he’d have said “by the way, when’s that pussy going to meet me at the town hall?”
al,
You have summarized a big part of why I am not in Camp McCain.
McCain isn’t really aiming for much of a mandate is he? I figure he’s waiting til after the inauguration for the press to tell him what it is. They hardly ever talk to him anymore. I think this makes him feel sad.
He made a bold play for the whiney vote this week though. Whiney voters, he said emphatically, I stand with you. And also all yous bitches make too much carbon dioxide.
Sorry, I said/asked this on a previous thread as it died out.
I may be suffering from a memory problem but I don’t recall candidates, especially ones not even nominated yet, going overseas to make political speeches to crowds in other nations. It seems unseemly to me.
Has this been done much before? I don’t recall it but I may not be remembering well.
So comrades, come rally and the last fight let us face cause our Baracky does a lot for real unite the human race.
Three out of three anchors agree!
Did you hear that? They called me a whore! They actually called me a whore!
But Senator Baracky it’s an easy mistake. I’m still called an admiral… yet I gave up the sea long ago.
“It was a racial love fest in Kuwait, with a few white officers at the entry door of the gym, and the soldiers inside being 95+% black.”
This could be a real problem for his tour f it continues. No way the photos can be ignored if it continues to be 95% black soldiers attending his talks.
“I would really like to know how the Army picked Obama’s audience; it looked racist”
I doubt they did. I think the soldiers who wanted to go went and the rest passed. I think they also picked a venue that would fit the interested parties without looking empty – a gym. If McCain goes to Afghanistan, it will not be a gym.
“Has this been done much before? I don’t recall it but I may not be remembering well.”
Short answer? No. At least I don’t think so. Not in a general, BEFORE taking office. Grant ran his mouth before office in (what was then called) England, but he was completely drunk and what he said didn’t make much sense. He was mostly upset because he had to pay for hookers while in London.
Of course, this was prior to the UN.
“Has this been done much before? I don’t recall it but I may not be remembering well.”
Candidates have done foreign trips and spoken with leaders and US military. Kerry did and so has McCain. I think Obama’s the first to stage open to the public rallies. If there were a youth concert somewhere in Europe during his trip expected to draw 50k people and the timing worked, Obama would stage a rally nearby right after it was over.
“Obama would stage a rally nearby right after it was over.”
No he wouldn’t. He’d open for the band. “We are the ones who we’ve been waiting for…the band…to play…we… Forget it. Get your lighters out!”
A sweet fingered ‘lick’ of hope mated with a heavy ‘whammy bar’ of change.
Give it up for Barack Obama and Duran Duran everybody. Let’s hear it.
Here’s what Joe Klein at Swampland has to say:
Obama is so going to win this thing. I think Joe Klein is right, and furthermore I think most news sources have predetermined the truth is too complicated for Americans, so they’ll just go with Obama.
Karl: And while O! will tout that for a while, reality will eventually intrude.
Do you promise? Do you promise reality will intrude?
And here’s what Karen Tumulty says at Time about the coverage of Obama’s trip:
It is McCain’s fault Obama is getting this unprecedented coverage, because never in the history of elections has one candidate so fairly attacked another’s credentials.
Cheering crowds in Berlin will prove Obama’s abilities as CinC, and Brian Williams will by golly be there to cover it.
We are so going to have President Obama. And that, Allah and Jim Lindgren, is why I won’t lay off criticizing him when he deserves it, even if one of his random bleatings sounds about like what I want to hear.
who the fuck is Maliki?
Ungrateful bastard should just shut up and accept our decision.
Sovereign shia Iran embracing independent democratic government my ass…
“Yes, McCain was right about the Surge, but that is a small, tactical truth too complicated to be understood by most Americans.”
Short version, Voters are stupid!
“Maliki Endorses Obama Withdrawal Plan is a headline everyone can understand.”
And they will believe any lie we put in big print above the fold.
geoffb, you are so right .
I agree with your statements completely and bypartisanly…..
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sashal, and I agree with your #42. Not to worry though as we will disagree on many things I have no doubt. It’s a human trait.
“Cheering crowds in Berlin will prove Obama’s abilities as CinC”
By this press standard a Rock Star (any of them) is even more qualified. Hard times are coming for the world.
– FOX is reporting without detail that Maliki has issued a statement declaring his earlier statement should not be considered a statement supporting Obama as a candidate statement. That he is not meaning to indicate an indorsement of Obama as a candidate, and that his statements earlier are simply in accordence with the ongoing statements and agreements with the Bush administration, and should not be understood as his endorsement.
– Thingy.
FOX is reporting without detail that Maliki has issued a statement declaring his earlier statement should not be considered a statement supporting Obama as a candidate statement. That he is not meaning to indicate an indorsement of Obama as a candidate, and that his statements earlier are simply in accordence with the ongoing statements and agreements with the Bush administration, and should not be understood as his endorsement.
Shorter Maliki: Keep that nancy-boy Obama away from my new democracy!
When is a statement not a statement? When it is a half-assed mumbled aside.
MayBee,
Mmmmmmm…HTML hash.
The debates have to happen, Pablo. I agree they are the one thing that can show people that Barack just doesn’t know stuff.
One question for those debates: “Mr. Obama, on your recent trip to the Mid East, why did you not meet with Ahmadinejad?”
I mean, he thinks it’s a good idea to do it within a year of election, right? So why not before?