Why Does Nouri al-Maliki Want to Lose in Iraq?

By Eric on July 8, 2008

We keep hearing from Republicans that setting a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq is legislating “defeat” in the War on Terror. So why does Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki want us to lose?

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Monday he is negotiating a deal with Washington that will for the first time set a timetable for a withdrawal of foreign forces as part of a framework for a U.S. troop presence into next year.

It was the first time that Baghdad’s Shiite-led government has made a pullout deadline a condition for a promised new agreement with the United States for a troop presence into 2009.

‘The direction we are taking is to have a memorandum of understanding either for the departure of the forces or to have a timetable for their withdrawal,’ a statement from Maliki’s office quoted him as telling Arab ambassadors to the United Arab Emirates.

At this point, I don’t think anyone except for George Bush and John McCain thinks we will actually “win” in Iraq.

Update: Oh, and in case you couldn’t already guess, the White House’s unofficial response to Maliki’s request for timelines:

Tags: Iraq, Nouri al-Maliki

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There is 1 response to “Why Does Nouri al-Maliki Want to Lose in Iraq?”

1. [...] couple weeks ago, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said he wants to negotiate a timeline for the withdrawal of American troops, a position that puts him in agreement with Barack Obama’s plan for phased withdrawal from [...]

   —crazydrumguy | readblog | » McCain: Maliki Doesn’t Really Want Timetables on July 21, 2008 at 4:56 pm