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Bush Admin Puts Pressure on Iraqi Government Over Support for Obama’s Policy |
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One of the major goals of the war in Iraq was supposed to be the establishment of a sovereign government. Ongoing internecine violence has put a big cramp in that, but there are other factors keeping the Iraqis from standing on their own. For one thing, our own government, which has over 150,000 troops stationed in that sovereign nation, has a tendency to intrude on Iraqi sovereignty.Â
Most recently, the U.S. government has tried to push the Iraqis to change their tune so that it matches Bush/McCain rhetoric. After Iraqi Prime Minister Al-Maliki praised Obama’s 16 month time frame for ending the US troop presence in Iraq, he faced pressure to back off, and the U.S. Central Command issued a statement “on the Maliki government’s behalf”, suggesting, without any specificity, that Maliki was mistranslated by the German paper that broke this story.
I know things have been pretty bizarre in Iraq, but a new level of surrealism has been reached when the U.S. military can issue vague statements speaking for the head of a supposedly sovereign nation.Â
Der Spiegel is sticking by its story–Maliki said Obama’s approach makes sense, and McCain is not being realistic. As one Republican strategist who has given advice to the McCain put it, “we’re [screwed].“Â
Joe Scarborough is “joking” that Maliki will give Obama a campaign check when the 2 meet in Iraq today. ha ha ha–joking about a presidential candidate being treasonous is hilarious. I’m sure Scarborough would make the same joke about McCain when a foreign leader said he/she agrees with McCain