Prime Minister al-Maliki. This is what is getting all the attention:
SPIEGEL: Would you hazard a prediction as to when most of the
US troops will finally leave Iraq?
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.
Reuters is making seem like it's an endorsement of Sen. Obama. However, one thing
Reuters won't tell you and conservative bloggers are pointing out is that Sen. Obama
wanted to start withdrawing when the security gains hadn't been made yet. Starting
the troops withdrawal process makes much more sense now then it did back then.
Oh, here's quote from the interview that Reuters left out of their article:
SPIEGEL: Mr. Prime Minister, the war and its consequences have
cost more than 100,000 lives and caused great suffering in your
country. Saddam Hussein and his regime are now part of the past.
Was all of this worth the price?
Maliki: The casualties have been and continue to be enormous.
But anyone who was familiar with the dictator's nature and his
intentions knows what could have been in store for us instead of
this war. Saddam waged wars against Iran and Kuwait, and against
Iraqis in the north and south of his own country, wars in which
hundreds of thousands died. And he was capable of instigating even
more wars. Yes, the casualties are great, but I see our struggle as
an enormous effort to avoid other such wars in the future.