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Iraqi Leader: US Should Leave as Soon as Possible
BERLIN - Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki says U.S. troops should leave Iraq "as soon as possible," according to a magazine report, and he called presidential candidate Barack Obama's suggestion of 16 months "the right timeframe for a withdrawal."
In Baghdad, however, the chief spokesman for al-Maliki issued a statement Sunday saying the prime minister's comments were "not conveyed accurately" by Germany's Der Spiegel magazine.
Spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said al-Maliki did not endorse a specific timetable but instead discussed a "an Iraqi vision" of U.S. troop withdrawals based on negotiations with Washington and "and in the light of the continuing positive developments on the ground."
The Der Spiegel article, released Saturday, quoted al-Maliki as giving apparent backing to the withdrawal plans discussed by Obama - the Illinois senator and likely Democratic nominee has pledged to withdraw combat troops from Iraq within 16 months if he is elected.
"That, we think, would be the right timeframe for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes," al-Maliki was quoted as saying. "Those who operate on the premise of short time periods in Iraq today are being more realistic. Artificially prolonging the tenure of U.S. troops in Iraq would cause problems."
Asked when U.S. forces would leave Iraq, he responded, "As soon as possible, as far a we're concerned."
In the interview, al-Maliki said he was not seeking to endorse Obama.
Sadiq al-Rikabi, an adviser to al-Maliki, said later that Iraqi officials do not intend to be "part of the electoral campaign in the United States."
"We will deal with any administration that comes to power," he said.
White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said Saturday: "In the interview, the Prime Minister made clear that any decision will be based on continuing positive developments - as he and the president both did in their joint statement yesterday. It is our shared view that should the recent security gains continue, we will be able to meet our joint aspirational time horizons."
On Friday, the White House announced that President Bush and al-Maliki had agreed to set a "general time horizon" for bringing more U.S. troops home from the war.
Obama's Republican presidential rival, John McCain, has supported Bush administration policy opposing a set timetable for taking troops out of Iraq.
"Barack Obama advocates an unconditional withdrawal that ignores the facts on the ground and the advice of our top military commanders," McCain foreign policy adviser Randy Scheunemann said Saturday. "John McCain believes withdrawal must be based on conditions on the ground.
"Prime Minister Maliki has repeatedly affirmed the same view, and did so again today. Timing is not as important as whether we leave with victory and honor, which is of no apparent concern to Barack Obama," Scheunemann said in a statement.
Just days ago McCain told reporters on his campaign bus that Maliki "has exceeded a lot of the expectations."
"I think that much to the surprise of some Maliki has proved to be a more effective leader," McCain said Tuesday in New Mexico.
The national security adviser to the Obama campaign, Susan Rice, said the senator welcomed al-Maliki's comments.
"This presents an important opportunity to transition to Iraqi responsibility, while restoring our military and increasing our commitment to finish the fight in Afghanistan," Rice said in a statement Saturday.
Obama arrived on his first visit to Afghanistan on Saturday, less than four months before the general election. He also is expected to stop later in Iraq.
McCain has criticized Obama for his lack of experience in the region. The Arizona senator has suggested he would pursue an Iraq strategy "that's working" - a reference to the troop buildup credited for sharply reducing violence in the country.
Al-Maliki is scheduled to visit Germany next week for talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel and business leaders amid a renewed German push in helping to rebuild Iraq. Berlin had opposed the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
© 2008 The Associated Press.
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Show AllDuring the Vietnam war, there was a senator named George Aiken who told LBJ to "declare victory and get out". Johnson, who was, in some respects, exactly like George Wanker Bush, didn't do it.
We're in the same place again in Iraq only, unlike Vietnam, the client state has shown us the door and said it's okay to scoot. Is there anybody in that collection of sad sacks and mental bean bags called the United States government smart enough to declare victory and leave? All they have to do is say it loudly, over and over, and get their lackeys in the MSM to do the same and the nation will believe it.
This reiterates what PM Al-Maliki said over a year ago (June 15, 2007): "Iraqi PM Nouri Al-Maliki says US troops can leave anytime, as his military could conduct military operations without US forces." This was poorly reported in our US MSM, but you can Google it and read several reports.
all this talk of the situation "on the ground" obscures the fact that it's the situation "in the ground" which is of primary concern to our fearless leaders.
all this talk of the situation "on the ground" obscures the fact that it's the situation "in the ground" which is of primary concern to our fearless leaders.
Why should they want US troops to leave?
"US troops kill relatives of Iraq governor in raid"
"Afghan officials: US-led forces killed 9 police"
Fire Fighters fight fire
Crime Fighters fight crime
And Freedom Fighters fight ...?
"general time horizon" ie, "after the last drop of oil has been exploited"; thats their doublespeak at work for you...
Intriguing it is to observe the "transformation" of Senator Obama as a presidential candidate.
When Barack stood up publicly in Chicago in October, 2002, to state his opposition to the impending invasion, he spoke to an antiwar rally of 3000, or one-tenth of one percent of the city's population.
When I joined the 300 or so residents of Dubuque to stand up publicly and oppose this illegal and immoral invasion, I joined no more than one-half of one percent of our local population.
Opponents occasionally stopped to taunt us, or take our picture, supposedly to intimidate us. A small number of locals continue to gather each Monday afternon.
"Our only hope today lies in our ability to recapture the revolutionary spirit and go out into a sometimes hostile world declaring eternal hostility to poverty, racism, and militarism." MLK, April 4, 1967
There is a large annual antiwar rally held each November at Fort Benning/Columbus, Georgia. This annual peace rally draws 20000, but is poorly reported in MSM. I attended once, in 2003. It protests the School of the Americas, contact School of the Americas Watch at www.soaw.org. This year's rally is Nov. 21-23, most arrive on the Saturday and the large commemoration event is on Sunday. Perhaps this an opportunty for commondreamers to meet, perhaps Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning. Leave a message on the central message board: "I'll be here at 4pm," or "See you at 9am." Our region sends a 54-person bus down to each rally, plus a van or two, just contact soaw for help from your locale.
Also intriguing is the date of Obama's acceptance as the Democratic Party presidential nominee, August 28, the 45th anniversary of MLK's "I have a dream." Talk about shouldering a great responsibility! In his writing and the example of his life, MLK provided all the guidance we'd ever need for peaceful and respectful coexistence, our attempts to overcome racial and economic divisions and war and budgeting for war in this age.
The same goes for Dorothy Day, her writings and the example of her life. These were two who gave their all so that we shall overcome.
The shared common dreams of MLK and DD continue to exist on these pages, in essays offered by today's writers and most posts.
Peace, hope and love.
Bill in Dubuque
The Obama effect... the fix is in and Bush found out all he has to do is declare victory and leave....
Now after the surge they don't even have to worry about a last stand in the Green Zone.
If somebody wrote this as a script, nobody in Hollywood would believe it!
The bankers are sayin the long term fundamentals are good, as long as they can create more money to lend.....
But they got that shake in their voice.
Maliki threatens to invoke the wrath of the jihadists in DC. It would be unusual for the landlord to face eviction. He says when he's leaving, he *owns* the place.
We read of another hit placed on a so-called al-qaeda financier just this fine campaign weekend. Troublemakers will be liquidated and or removed from the business plan, in this case, the 5th Estate fires the first warning shots in Maliki's direction.
Freedom Fighters fight for Freedom, which means they fight oppressors and occupiers, like Democrats, Republicans, US Army, NATO, IDF, etc., respecctively.
Not mentioned in the photo caption is the fact that the new Najaf airport was financed and built by Iran and an Iranian/Iraqi consortium, respectively.
I highly suggest reading this Asia Times item that provides additional context to the current Great Game II being contested by the US Empire and Russia regarding energy, of which the ongoing Iraqi Holocaust is a major part.
Thanks Karloff,
I get from your article about the great game, Russia has learned from its mistakes about empire.
The US Empire is over... like an old brand... the money now is in money with power and Russia and the worlds capitalists knows the US government is in the middle and does not have a clue that the US empire is broke!
There are saving nations that are gathering capital and debtor nations that are losing and guess where the great American Empire stands.
Russia controls it oil and it will make it a very rich empire while America owns nothing but debt and needs to borrow more everyday just to pay the interest.
The world gets it and just wonders when we will.
Sixteen months my ass. Sixteen days would be acceptable to me, but if it were up to me, which it is not, it would be seven days. Like the Exodus from Egypt or the PM rush hour in LA. ____ "We are outta here".
So, to be secure, the US has to continue its policy of trying to eradicate every terrorist on earth, oops, I mean of trying to make the world safe for Israel, oops, I mean of trying to gain control of every possible supply of oil in the world. It must therefore rid Iran of its "bad intentions" by increasing the sanctions and the fear level until the US population is shouting for the president to take action -- MILITARY action. Absolutely zero regard for the facts that(1)Iran is legally and morally entitled to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and (2) both the IAEA -- which has conducted many unannounced inspections over the last year --and our own Nat'l Intelligence Estimate agree that Iran is NOT enriching uranium for anything beyond the production of electricity.
What in the h*** is wrong with our Congress, the Europeans who are going along with Bush/Cheney et al., the media who are doing the same, and the UN's Security Council????
America can instead choose to listen to Al Gore and any number of environmental, political and energy groups and at last rid our country of its reliance on foreign oil by developing a new infrastructure based in renewables. I'm sure it would be cheaper to do that now than AFTER all the wells have run dry.
"The US Empire is over"
That much is certain. There's a Haitian proverb that says: The higher up the tree the monkey climbs, the more you can see his ass. We are very near the top.
Of course the Hatians then chopped down all of their trees.
And a poet and prophet from Lebanon wrote: ___ "For reason, ruling alone, is a force confining; and passion unattended, is a flame that burns to its own destruction."
~Kahlil Gibran~
Kem, have you seen this?
http://www.libertyforlife.com/military-war/wmd.html
No ~Jim~, I had not. Thank you very much for that link, and I will sure pass it along.
Now They are makin a movie on the economy.
http://www.youtube.com:80/watch?v=HBo2xQIWHiM
Yes Jim, thanks for that link.
It's good that Iraq has a leader. Maybe we can have one some day.
The best timetable is that of Seymour Hersh.
"By midnight tomorrow."
Though he said that years ago.
hey MORDECHAI, don't freak me out with those haitian proverbs...........the last thing i want to see is george 'wanker' bush's ass.
Presidential candidate Congressman Ron Paul: US should leave Iraq, and the other 700+ US bases worldwide, ASAP.
Presidential candidate Ralph Nader: US should leave Iraq, and the other 700+ US bases worldwide, ASAP.
Corporate-approved Presidential candidates BO and JM: a few troops home from Iraq (maybe,) more "re-deployed" to Afghanistan, the rest stay where they are.
Who offers the "change we can believe in" again?
Bush said he'd pull the troops when Maliki asked him to leave. What are you waiting for, W? Get the message.
How loud and how often does he have to say it?
Interesting how, since "timetable" or "Timeline" are dirty words in the Bush administration's dialogue, they have devised this "time horizon" terminology.
I guess if it doesn't work out, we can always call it "Lost Horizon" with a musical score by Burt Bacharach.
I read earlier where Pentagon Chief Mullen is impressed with the growth of the Iraq economy; let's not give a thought to the U. S. economy though.
As I read reports about what is going on in Iraq and Afghanistan, our threats to Iran, and all the domestic problems that we face here at home, we have really got to be the laughing stock of the rest of the civilized world.
Or, doesn't the Bush administration know that people have access to cable news and the internet on a worldwide basis? You think maybe somebody should tell the "Moron of Pennsylvania Avenue"?
Kem Patrick: good to hear from you again.
I actually had not intended to post any comment today. I simply checked in to see if JCrumb had learned any new curse words that we wished to share with ut.
Apparently we didn't go there just to leave... whatever the cost. We built permanent bases just to leave? We continue building them as we leave? Bush doesn't want to leave and tried to avoid this clear step by the Iraqi government.
Therefore the strategy becomes ... 'Well lets see okay?"
Indeed.Step one would be to stay and if possible link it to a undefinable 'conditions on the ground', which could mean anything. This let's stay a bit more and see will see WHAT?
Will we see calm in Iraq while WE are in country? Unlikely since we are the cause of this misery and ruin of that country.
We need to leave for there to be calmer conditions on the ground. Bush's denial is his bunkered delusion.
Our being there did all this and it's long over. This occupation has failed and we all saw why. From nobids to Blackwater and Abu Gharib.
Our spin keeps us in that denial but we need to leave for there to be a reconstruction of Iraq.
If you have installed a government so as to be able to stay (next to the oil) and it asks you to leave... how do you spin that?
You don't. You go to step one. Mere staying will allow time to shuffle the deck and see what comes up. Now our goal seems to be just to stay.
Stop loss included. Millions as refugees and ruin.
We should leave and send them money to fix what we broke and what we already paid to fix but Bush cronies stole.
We should leave and send them money to fix what we can't fix by being there.
Jim and KEN - Why is KennyG music being played as background in the depleted uranium reports?? Makes absolutely no sense at all, completely dilutes the import of the scandal...
Who ever is putting out the report IS THICK INTO THE DISINFORMATION BUSINESS.
wc652 -
We knew Martin Luther King. Martin Luther King was a friend of ours. Barack Obama is no Martin Luther King.
"whether we leave with victory or honor, which is of no apparent concern to Barack Obama"
F the timetable. "Victory or Honor." That's McCain
Timetable. Barack Obama.
Maliki "would clearly be more comfortable working with Barack Obama" Juan Cole.
Well, I wonder why? Maybe he likes the idea of a timetable rather than the US bombing Iraq until "Victory and Honor" are achieved.
Obama '08.
Per chance al Aribya has some extra flights out tomorrow?
Just out of curiosity, have any of the world's leaders or presidents who disagreed with our government's policies been killed?
Just wondered, ___ he he snicker.
After 12 years of sanctions, an invasion and 5 years of bloody occupation, and construction of numerous permanent military bases, I can't see the US just walking out. Even with Obama in charge. There will be "reasons" to stay, and Maliki is not making the decision.
"The Arizona senator has suggested he would pursue an Iraq strategy "that's working" - a reference to the troop buildup credited for sharply reducing violence in the country," says the AP journalist without qualifying the statement with the information the rest of us have been given, namely reports that the 'peace' that has descended on Iraq is the peace of death from ethnic cleansing in the assorted ethnic enclaves. I'm sure that at some point those folks will all come together for a picnic, perhaps flying the American and Iraqi flags for inspiration.
Get some credibility AP.
Well it's good to know that Maliki's years as a stooge FOR THE SPOOKS hasn't been wasted. His use of that da_n hackneyed phrase, "as soon as possible" is CYA baloney. I'm positive that his old paymasters are smiling, knowing that their crafted "asset" is living up to their expectations. :(
KEM PATRICK:
In re: "...have any of the world's leaders or presidents who disagreed with our government's policies been killed?"
Yeah: Salvador Allende and JFK for starters, there were others, such as the legally elected president (sorry can't recall his name) of Guatemala-ca.1958 [Lee harvey Oswald, CIA asset, was involved in in that coup de etat].
interesting how blunt told wolf blitzer today i believe... that it doesnt matter what iraq wants [referencing a timetable of withdrawal].... was that an intentional statement pretty much letting us know that the BS about the surge giving some "breathing" room so that the iraqi govt can shape itself was just that.... BS or was in an unintentional slip and it makes me wonder why wolf didnt just pounce on that statement?
secondly.... as i was watching blundering blunt make this statement... on the ticker below an ominous news msg... sevearl iraqi ppl were "accidentally" killed including a relative of a member of the iraqi govt...
was that a msg to iraq.... we'll leave when we're good and ready to... if ever?
and on a side note.... they keep saying that the surge worked.... okay then... so if that was the purpose.... for "iraqi freedom" and the surge worked and the iraqi govt is ready to take over... then wouldnt that be considered the victory bush was looking for so he can get out of iraq and save face?
or are we going to see a surge in violence when we stop paying the iraqis to stop shooting at our military so that they can have an excuse to stay?
give mccain his due .. okay... he know how to win wars... but then ask him... does he know when to leave?
and if we leave and violence escalates.... isnt that the problem of the iraqi govt not ours?
if we're going to play "big brother" to govts of the world that cannot handle their own issues... arent there countries that need our assistance more?
when do you think that the govt is going to stop buying their own hype that the american ppl are too concerned with materialistic things... that we're actually paying attention and we've taken our ginko.... our memory is just fine!
Ya missed my "he he snicker" there ~DIABLO~
it is situation IN the ground not ON the ground. When all the oil deals are in place and Iraq looks like Gaza forever and the american based oil companies are making even more money and can control the flow of oil even more to drive up the price and a pipeline across to Israel then the situation will be OK to leave. There will always be troops in Iraq to protect the oil companies.
voxclamantis at 8:45,
Thanks for the reminder, and I'll agree with you. There was one MLK.
It's notable that many actual friends of MLK are friends and supporters of Barack Obama, you might look into it.
Think about attending School of Americas Watch. 20000 is a sizeable number, there should be 200,000 attending this event.
Now that would be people insisting on change!
(war sound effects)
Man, stop that war, them cats are killing themselves!
Put away the guns, put the bombs on a shelf
Stop this war the cats are killing themselves!
Boy, they're shootin' 'em up, and shootin' 'em line
They even got wings and they're shooting them fine
A big bomb hit a boat out in the sea
The sailors jumped up, hollered "Whatcha doin' to me?"
Boy they bring'em down lower than low
When the bomb hits the ground those cats have got to go
(bomb sound effect)
Boy, that sounds like one of those incendiary bombs
Where'd you get that word Wingie?
Boy, I dug it out of the dug out.
-- "Stop The War (The Cats Are Killing Themselves)"
Written & Performed by Wingie Manone; Recorded March 19, 1941
Even if we leave Iraq in 16 months, there will be another war, then another, and another, because our system thrives on war. Martin Luther King was about more than ending the Vietnam War---he was about ending militarism, beating swords into ploughshares, and re-drawing our national priorities. Cynthia McKinney said, "The Green Party was against the war when it started, is against the war now, and is against any military action against Iran that might take place tomorrow. The Green Party is a peace party. A Green vote is a peace vote."
John M. Wages, Jr.
US House candidate, MS-01
www.VoteJohnWages.com
pontificatinpapa: "Lost Horizon" that's a good one, wish I'd thought of it. Now where did I put those aspirational goals?
Their euphemisms get more ludicrous the more desperate they become. Of course, the horizon is always the same distance from the viewer no matter how far or how long they travel toward it.
The sad part is the echo chamber is in fine voice as this idiotic phrase will be repeated ad nauseam.
Every day another different story from our man in Baghdad: Americans leave, no stay, no, leave soon...
He , Mr. Maliki,that is, doesn't run the show (that would be the Bush crowd and the Pentagon and assorted corporate rulers).
A lot of the coming and going is election year stuff.
And is the Pentagon so hard up for a mission that they'll go over to Afghanistan once they're "kicked out" of Iraq?
Memo to Obama: "Afghanistan" is spelled "Iraq."
So...al-Maliki says something and al-Dabbagh goes to USA MSM and claims that what al-Maliki stated was a mistranslation? Who knows what to believe really about this situation save if one knows the Arabic language (which I seriously doubt most Americans know the Arabic language). Who to believe in this, al-Maliki or al-Dabbagh? Well, I am of the opinion that most Iraqi people, regardless of affiliation, wants the USA military to leave their country. Nothing will convince me otherwise.
Q: If the U.S. should never have attacked Iraq in the first place (over "flawed intelligence" -- hehe), then WHY are American troops STILL there??
Excerpt: "How many Americans know the actual number of US military bases their tax dollars support around the world?
What would be your guess?
Would you believe 737, spread over 130 countries, according to the Defense Department's annual "Base Structure Report"--and that's not counting another 6000 bases in the United States and its territories?
Chalmers Johnson, in his latest book, "Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic" cites the "worldwide total of U.S. military personnel in 2005, including those based domestically, to be 1,840,062 supported by an additional 473,306 Defense Department civil service employees and 203,328 local hires."
Overseas bases, according to the Pentagon, contained 32,327 barracks, hangars, hospitals, and other buildings, which it owns, and 16,527 more that it leases; and more than 29,819,492 acres of land worldwide, making the Pentagon one of the world's largest landlords.
The Roman Empire at its height in the year 117 AD had only 37 bases to police its realm from All Gaul (which was divided into three parts) to Egypt.
Ike Eisenhower's parting shot, when he left the presidency of the United States in 1961, was his warning about the military-industrial complex.
It was too little, too late. We had been a nation born in genocide, destroying the Native American tribes and taking possession of their land. We developed a major part of our economy through slavery, a plantation system and a three way slave trade broken only by the industrial revolution and the development of capitalism. The Civil War brought us into the modern imperialist era. The Monroe Doctrine. Manifest Destiny." --- Stephen Fleischman
"plenum 6:54 pm
Jim and KEN - Why is KennyG music being played as background in the depleted uranium reports?? Makes absolutely no sense at all, completely dilutes the import of the scandal…
Who ever is putting out the report IS THICK INTO THE DISINFORMATION BUSINESS."
-------------
Funny I checked back at the site and heard no music at all... maybe they took it off? I thought I heard music the first time myself. http://www.libertyforlife.com/military-war/wmd.html
I don't agree with everything on that site and they get into many other matters and I don't agree with like they are suggesting that FDR was our "worst fascist socialist president".
It is amazing how the left and the right agree on many things but this demonizing of socialism as being the same as fascism and ignoring the fact that there is no pure form of system and never was ..they are all Mixed. This does not help us understand where we are and where we are going...
but thanks for pointing the site out again so I could review it again.
This just came in... still fighting for impeachment!
http://www.veteransforpeace.org/
Questions:
1. What war has John McCain won?
2. How does being a prisoner make McCain qualified to be president? There were approx 800 POW's held in Vietnam. Are they qualified to be president?
"The surge" worked because of the:
- $300.00 per month the Army is paying the Sunni and other religious Arab groups not to shoot at our soldiers.
- Cement barriers walling off streets and neighborhoods.
- Millions of refugees ethnic cleansed from their homes and neighborhoods.
- Millions of refugees in other countries.
- Millions Iraqis dead.
- Cease-fire of Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi army while they reorganize and regroup.
These reasons have more to do with less violence that the "surge".
But of course, we don't acknowledge these factors in this country.
"....Nouri al-Maliki says U.S. troops should leave Iraq "as soon as possible,"..."
I agree - let's get TF out of there!
Out the frying pan, into the fire of Afghanistan you will go. All that wasted effort to conquer a dying planet.