An Open Can Of Worms - continued!

By Ron Beasley

Cernig discussed the latest on the al-Maliki comments below. In the comments section I wrote the following:

I also have no doubt that Maliki meant to say what he said and intended it to impact the US elections

As much as I hate to admit it I think Robert Reid of AP may be onto something:

With Obama due to visit Iraq soon, al-Maliki's spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh was quick to discredit the report, saying the prime minister's remarks were "not conveyed accurately." A top al-Maliki adviser, Sadiq al-Rikabi, insisted the Iraqi government does not intend to be "part of the electoral campaign in the United States."

But that is precisely what the Iraqis intended to do: exploit Obama's position on the war to force the Bush administration into accepting concessions considered unthinkable a few months ago.

[....]

According to senior Iraqi officials, the decision to play U.S. politics emerged last month after Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari's trip to Washington for meetings with Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Obama and Sen. John McCain, the likely Republican presidential nominee.

The visit took place as the U.S. and Iraq were negotiating rules that would govern the American military presence in Iraq once the U.N. mandate expires at the end of the year.

The talks had bogged down over U.S. demands for extensive basing rights, control of Iraqi airspace and immunity from prosecution under Iraqi law for U.S. soldiers and private contractors.

In the past, the Iraqis would have bowed to American pressure. This time, they saw an option in Obama, a longtime critic of the war. They could press for a short-term agreement with the administration and take their chances with a new president — Obama or McCain.

Now we have already seen the al-Maliki government play the Bush administration and the Iranians against each other so it's a game they know how to play.

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