"Obama Tried to Stall 'GIs' Iraq Withdrawal"
According to an article by Amer Taheri in Monday'sNew York Post, "Obama Tried to Stall "GIs" Iraq Withdrawal."
According to Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, Obama made his demand for delay a key theme of his discussions with Iraqi leaders in Baghdad in July.
"He asked why we were not prepared to delay an agreement until after the US elections and the formation of a new administration in Washington," Zebari said in an interview.
The source, Hoshyar Zebar, claims that Obama tried to undercut the current POTUS in the hopes that Obama could dictate the Iraq policy if elected POTUS.
Maliki's advisers have persuaded him that Obama will win - but the prime minister worries about the senator's "political debt to the anti-war lobby" - which is determined to transform Iraq into a disaster to prove that toppling Saddam Hussein was "the biggest strategic blunder in US history."....Obama has given Iraqis the impression that he doesn't want Iraq to appear anything like a success, let alone a victory, for America. The reason? He fears that the perception of US victory there might revive the Bush Doctrine of "pre-emptive" war - that is, removing a threat before it strikes at America.
Taheri gives the direct impression that "Obama wants Iraq to fall into chaos and wants to win an election to 'prove Bush43 was wrong' ."
In a 2004 interview with Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari
Zebari: Well, one of the areas that has taken a great deal of discussion in the Security Council is the relation of the new interim government with the multinational forces, which I have said in the chamber of the Security Council and very publicly that we need these forces. It is an Iraqi need more than an American or coalition need. And I warned against any premature withdrawal of these forces because the consequences would be catastrophic.
Based on the last blockquote from the Post about Iraqi's perception of Obama and the 2004 interview with Zebari, could it be that Zebari is Otto von Bismarck incarnate
and Zebari is making claims to increase McCain's odds of winning? Or would Obama want to see a civil war in Iraq just to spite the Bush Doctrine? Or is it door number 3?
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Comments :
Taheri has a
rather poor record
and the NYP is kind of a rag -- let's just wait and see.
FWIW, here
is the Obama campaign response. His website has always said that 
:
My impression is that Taheri blew this up into something it isn't, but I'd like to see more facts come out before making a final judgment.
Come, my friends. 'Tis not too late to seek a newer world -- Tennyson
How nice of McCain to qualifiy his statement to death,
even more than I do.
"it is not yet clear"
"but the possibility of such actions is unprecedented"
"should be concerning to all that he reportedly"
"If news reports are accurate"
"The charge that he sought"
"raises serious questions"
Methinks Obama said "A" and down the grape vine its reported that Obama said "Y"
In our society, people are rewarded for pretending to be certain about things they're clearly not certain about. -- Sam Harris,
I'm leaning towards door number 3
That is, that Taheri just got it wrong
, reporting "A" as "Y" as you put it.
Come, my friends. 'Tis not too late to seek a newer world -- Tennyson
By the way, I got that link
via here
, which has more info (including in comments) if anyone is particularly interested in this topic.
Come, my friends. 'Tis not too late to seek a newer world -- Tennyson
Hopefully final update
(also via the Forvm) -- Tapper has reports from Republicans who attended the July meeting and agree with Obama's version
of what took place.
Come, my friends. 'Tis not too late to seek a newer world -- Tennyson
I saw a response from the Obama campaign
that said that Obama tried to delay a status-of-forces agreement with Iraq, not a troop withdrawl, because he was trying to avoid having bush lock us into some 11th hour deal.
Between the potential for translation errors and a dubious source (reporting on a dubious source) seems like a reasonable explanation.
I came. I saw. I posted.
Veni, Vidi, Bitchy.
Keep trying to convice yourselves! LOL!
Pretty straight forward
, but you guy's just can't stand the fact 
that he would do something like that 
?
"A society that puts equality before freedom will have neither. A society that puts freedom before equality will get a high degree of both." ~ Milton Friedman
Taheri has made erroneous conclusions before.
In this instance, the writer in the same article I linked [and then you linked again] has a dubious history of either making up sources (or citing the wrong source) and coming up with erroneous conclusions.
And there is evidence that Taheri didn't fact check his piece, as there are factual errors. This looks like it will be worse than Rathergate like if people keep on pushing this Barry & Hoshyar Zebari in Iraq issue.
Other sources just have Obama asking a question in the states to Zebari, while the article says:
There is a big difference between the quote of Hoshyar Zebari and what Taheri extrapolates as the meaning of what Zebari said. No quote in the article backs up what Taheri just claimed in the blockquote.
In our society, people are rewarded for pretending to be certain about things they're clearly not certain about. -- Sam Harris,
*shrug*
I'm *really* not inclined to give Obama the benefit of the doubt, seeing as I strongly suspect he's a conman. That said this just doesn't really seem that damning. It sounds very much like a miscommunication coupled with an exaggeration.
Put it another way- I highly doubt that Obama is stupid enough to openly say the things he's supposed to have said to a foreign national who has no reason not to exploit the statement for personal gain.
I came. I saw. I posted.
Veni, Vidi, Bitchy.