Maliki OK With Obama’s Plan to Pull Out
Well.
Maliki: As soon as possible, as far as we’re concerned. U.S. 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.
Sean Hackbarth at The American Mind has these thoughts.
First, realize Maliki sees Obama as the Presidential front runner. It’s rational not to rock the boat. Second, Iraq and the U.S. wouldn’t be in this situation if it weren’t for the surge that quelled violence.
[…]
On the surge Sen. John McCain had the superior judgment over the less-experienced Obama.
Third, a timetable or a change in “time horizon” in an environment of victory makes the U.S. and the Middle East more secure.
I would add that Maliki is also speaking to the Iraqi people. He wants to give them assurance that he supports an eventual U.S. withdrawal in order to enhance his own power.
In the end, we all want to pull combat troops out of Iraq (I support maintaining a presence there as long as the Middle East is a hot spot). The question is whether or not we set an arbitrary deadline or merely a goal subject to change based on the conditions on the ground.