Surprise: Obama Tried to Delay Iraq Withdrawal Until After Election
Yet another example of how Barack Obama is nothing more than a politician, and in no way represents anything close to "change from politics as usual." Amir Taheri, an Iranian born journalist and author, first brought this story in an editorial in Monday's New York Post.
The article detailed how, even as he campaigned on the platform of a speedy withdrawal from the war that "should have never been authorized and should have never been waged," Obama met in private with Iraqi leaders and attempted to "persuade [them] to delay an agreement on a draw-down of the American military presence."
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari can vouch for Taheri's claims. He says:
I'll sum up with a quote from Harry Truman. Obama might want to take this to heart if he still thinks "change we can believe in" is more than just a campaign slogan:
"It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit." -Harry S. Truman
Update: The McCain campaign has released a statement in response to this story. From Senior McCain/Palin Adviser Randy Scheunemann:
The article detailed how, even as he campaigned on the platform of a speedy withdrawal from the war that "should have never been authorized and should have never been waged," Obama met in private with Iraqi leaders and attempted to "persuade [them] to delay an agreement on a draw-down of the American military presence."Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari can vouch for Taheri's claims. He says:
Then, the American Spectator confirmed the allegations, and described the Obama campaigns headaches after Taheri's column:"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.
"However, as an Iraqi, I prefer to have a security agreement that regulates the activities of foreign troops, rather than keeping the matter open."
The three problems, according to campaign sources: The report was true, there were at least three other people in the room with Obama and Zebari to confirm the conversation, and there was concern that there were enough aggressive reporters based in Baghdad with the sources to confirm the conversation that to deny the comments would create a bigger problem.Today, Taheri has written another column rebuking Obama's defense, with even more damning statements from Iraqi Foreign Minister Zebari:
In a long interview with the pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat, Zebari says: "Obama asked me why, in view of the closeness of a change of administration, we were hurrying the signing of this special agreement, and why we did not wait until the coming of the new administration next year and agree on some issues and matters."If McCain has a pair, he'll be attending the debates with this card up his sleeve. As much as you and I loathe Bush, please recognize that if this is true, Barack Obama undermined the current administration to further his political ambitions. Anyone in reality knows Barry simply cares about being the one who history will say stood up and stopped the most unpopular war in American history. If Bush and the Iraqis draw up a withdrawal agreement before Obama takes office, all he'd be doing is carrying out the previously-agreed-upon-plan, and would hardly be credited with stopping the war.
Zebari continues: "I told Obama that, as an Iraqi, I believe that even if there is a Democratic administration in the White House it had better continue the present policy instead of wasting a lot of time thinking what to do."
In other words, Obama was trying to derail current US policy, while Zebari was urging him not to "waste time."
I'll sum up with a quote from Harry Truman. Obama might want to take this to heart if he still thinks "change we can believe in" is more than just a campaign slogan:
"It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit." -Harry S. Truman
Update: The McCain campaign has released a statement in response to this story. From Senior McCain/Palin Adviser Randy Scheunemann:
"At this point, it is not yet clear what official American negotiations Senator Obama tried to undermine with Iraqi leaders, but the possibility of such actions is unprecedented. It should be concerning to all that he reportedly urged that the democratically-elected Iraqi government listen to him rather than the US administration in power.Update: More evidence emerging, this time from July 2008, that the freshman senator from Illinois was indeed interfering in an attempt to stall the Iraqi government until after the presidential election:
"If news reports are accurate, this is an egregious act of political interference by a presidential candidate seeking political advantage overseas. Senator Obama needs to reveal what he said to Iraq’s Foreign Minister during their closed door meeting. The charge that he sought to delay the withdrawal of Americans from Iraq raises serious questions about Senator Obama’s judgment and it demands an explanation."
[Foreign Minister Zebari] said that Mr. Obama had asked him: "Why is the Iraqi government in a rush, in a hurry? This administration has only a few more months in office."
Labels: Election 2008, Iraq