Nouri al-Maliki found a pony

By Ron Beasley

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki found a pony and it's name is Obama.  While John McSame was busy questioning Obama's foreign policy credentials the Iraqi Prime Minster was endorsing them.

Iraq Leader Maliki Supports Obama's Withdrawal Plans

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki supports US presidential candidate Barack Obama's plan to withdraw US troops from Iraq within 16 months. When asked in and interview with SPIEGEL when he thinks US troops should leave Iraq, Maliki responded "as soon as possible, as far as we are concerned." He then continued: "US 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."

Maliki was careful to back away from outright support for Obama. "Of course, this is by no means an election endorsement. Who they choose as their president is the Americans' business," he said. But then, apparently referring to Republican candidate John McCain's more open-ended Iraq policy, Maliki said: "Those who operate on the premise of short time periods in Iraq today are being more realistic. Artificially prolonging the tenure of US troops in Iraq would cause problems."

The prime minister was wrong about one thing however:

"So far the Americans have had trouble agreeing to a concrete timetable for withdrawal, because they feel it would appear tantamount to an admission of defeat," Maliki told SPIEGEL. "But that isn't the case at all. If we come to an agreement, it is not evidence of a defeat, but of a victory, of a severe blow we have inflicted on al-Qaida and the militias."

For the neocons, the Bush administration and McCain leaving does represent a defeat since on of their main goals all along was a permanent military presence in Iraq to both secure the oil and threaten Iraq's neighbors.  Of course the wingnuts are already saying that this just proves the Obama was wrong about the surge.  As for al-Maliki - he's a politician, the Iraqis want the Americans out, he has to suspect that Obama will be the next President and he takes some steam out of al-Sadr who was popular in large part because he wanted the Americans out.