Posted on 09/20/2008 2:29:14 PM PDT by 2nd amendment mama
Earlier this week, the campaign of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., seized upon a column in the New York Post that described Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., as having urged Iraqi leaders in a private meeting to delay coming to an agreement with the Bush administration on the status of U.S. troops.
"Obama has tried in private to persuade Iraqi leaders to delay an agreement on a drawdown of the American military presence," Post columnist Amir Taheri wrote, quoting Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, who told the Post that Obama, during his meeting with Iraqi leaders in July, "asked why we were not prepared to delay an agreement until after the U.S. elections and the formation of a new administration in Washington."
The charge -- that Obama asked the Iraqis to delay signing off on a "Status of Forces Agreement," thus delaying U.S. troop withdrawal and interfering in U.S. foreign policy -- has been picked up on the Internet, talk radio and by Republicans, including the McCain campaign, which seized on the story as possible evidence of duplicity.
The Obama campaign said that the Post report consisted of "outright distortions."
Lending significant credence to Obama's response is the fact that -- though it's absent from the Post story and other retellings -- in addition to Obama and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, this July meeting was also attended by Bush administration officials, such as U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker and the Baghdad embassy's legislative affairs advisor Rich Haughton, as well as a Republican senator, Chuck Hagel of Nebraska.
Attendees of the meeting back Obama's account, including not just Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., but Hagel, and Senate Foreign Relations Committee staffers from both parties. Officials of the Bush administration who were briefed on the meeting by the U.S. embassy in Baghdad also support Obama's account and dispute the Post story and McCain attack.
The Post story is "absolutely not true," Hagel spokesman Mike Buttry told ABC News.
"Barack Obama has never urged a delay in negotiations," said Obama campaign national security spokesperson Wendy Morigi, "nor has he urged a delay in immediately beginning a responsible drawdown of our combat brigades."
Buttry said that Hagel agrees with Obama's account of the meeting: Obama began the meeting with al-Maliki by asserting that the United States speaks with one foreign policy voice, and that voice belongs to the Bush administration.
A Bush administration official with knowledge of the meeting says that, during the meeting, Obama stressed to al-Maliki that he would not interfere with President Bush's negotiations concerning the U.S. troop presence in Iraq, and that he supports the Bush administration's position on the need to negotiate, as soon as possible, the Status of Forces Agreement, which deals with, among other matters, U.S. troops having immunity from local prosecution.
Obama did assert at the meeting with the Iraqis that he agrees with those -– including Hagel and Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., the ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee -- who advocate congressional review of the Strategic Framework Agreement being worked out between the Bush administration and the Iraqi government, including the Iraqi parliament.
The Strategic Framework Agreement is a document that generally describes what the relationship between the two countries should look like over time.
According to one person present at the meeting, Obama told al-Maliki that the American people wouldn't understand why the Iraqi parliament would get to have a say on the Strategic Framework Agreement, but the U.S. Congress would not, especially since Bush is only months from leaving the White House, regardless of whether Obama or McCain succeeds him.
Morigi said in a statement that "Barack Obama has consistently called for any Strategic Framework Agreement to be submitted to the U.S. Congress so that the American people have the same opportunity for review as the Iraqi parliament."
It’s possible, Obama advisers believe, that either Zebari or Taheri confused the Strategic Framework Agreement -- which Obama feels should be reviewed by Congress -- with the Status of Forces Agreement, which Obama says the Bush administration should negotiate with the Iraqis as soon as possible.
Two officials of the Bush administration say that if Obama had done what the Post story asserted –- which they believe to be untrue -– Crocker and embassy officials attending the meeting would have ensured that the Bush administration heard about it immediately. If such an incident occurred in front of officials of the Bush administration, it would have constituted a foreign policy breach and would have been front-page huge news; it would not have leaked out two months later in an op-ed column.
Nonetheless, based on nothing more than the Post report, McCain senior foreign policy adviser Randy Scheunemann issued a statement earlier this week, expressing outrage.
“It should be concerning to all that (Obama) reportedly urged that the democratically-elected Iraqi government listen to him rather than the U.S. administration in power,” Scheunemann said, apparently not having talked to anyone with knowledge about the meeting in the Bush administration, the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, Hagel, or any Republican staffers on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
“If news reports are accurate, this is an egregious act of political interference by a presidential candidate seeking political advantage overseas,” Scheunemann continued. “Sen. 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 Sen. Obama's judgment, and it demands an explanation.”
What actually demands an explanation is why the McCain campaign was so willing to give credence to such a questionable story with such tremendous international implications without first talking to Republicans present at Obama’s meeting with al-Maliki, who back Obama’s version of the meeting and completely dismiss the Post column as untrue.
As quite a number of other Democrats do for even more serious crimes. Remember the homicide case concerning Vince Foster?
Why is it a taboo to prosecute a 'Rat for a horrendous crime while it's fair game to prosecute a Republican like Scooter Libby for nothing?
Hagel prefers Al Jazeera over the Republican Party.
The Bush officials are annoymous so they need to be dismissed.
I don’t know how to react to this story.
McCain being stabbed in the back by “Republicans” doesn’t bother me. He led the charge for too long to deserve any better for himself. He emboldened Republicans to do this.
On the other hand, if the story is accurate whatever Mccain deserves isn’t the point. Defending of the story’s accuracy is.
Get this straight, when you see the name Jake Tapper you should know that he is a hitman for the Democrats.
If not accurate, Tapper should take it up with Taheri, not McCain.
They will do anything.
The msm will do whatever it takes to get Barack Hussein 0bama in the White House.
There’s a lot more that needs to be known about this — for just one example, is this meeting with Maliki the ONLY meeting that Obambi had with ANY Iraqi official during a multi-day trip there? Was the weasel Hagel with Obambi at all times? This may well be one of those “(im)plausible deniability” cases where the supposed main meeting was not where the real purpose(s) of the trip were being pursued by Obambi. Why does Hagel imagine that he was privy to everything said and done by Obambi during this trip? Did they share a room?
The media bias is what it is. The only way Republicans can win is to work around it. It's not fair that they should have to do so, but matters is reality. Whether or not the MSM should be fair, they aren't, so Republicans will either work around it or lose.
BS! If the advisers are trying to parse words like this then they know he was trying to undermine the President.
If Hagel told me the sky is blue, I’d look out the window to be sure.
This story came out at least 2 weeks ago. How is it that Hagel-rino NE, is just now counterdicting it. Did it take that long to float the bribe to the traitorous SOB? He better live it up now because he will never be reelected in NE.
Always Blowing Crap
Great question to ask. IMHO, I would get all three quotes into a single campaign ad and then ask Obama to explain it. That negates the criminal action you indicated as a possible outcome and snuffs the idea that Republican have taken no action, by allowing time for Obama to explain his stance on the discrepancy.
The back and forth will cause doubt, put Obama in the defensive, cast doubt onto his foreign/domestic(?) ideals and help ...eerrr....undecideds...... see that this is a socialist in an Armani suit.
What do you propose be done, if any?
Jake Tapper and his lil’ pal Kirit are hacks. What demands an explanation is why they are parading themselvs as “news” people.
I thought this story was started by the Iraqis. If that is what they understood somebody had better start checking the translators. Or was Zero “uhing” so often he could not be understood?
Your idea is probably as good as anything I could come up with, but I really don't think it would have much effect. To Obama voters, the discussions with the Iraqi government would be seen as "foreign policy experience", a factor in his favor. I don't think there's any way the true nature of Barack's business there could penetrate Liberal Mind Fog.
The scumbag is retiring this year.
Jake Tapper is the best of a bad bunch at ABC. He has been fair at times for Republicans.
That’s what I’m wondering. Especially with the Iraqi PM, and the FM, the pres./pm of the Kurdish region, Barzani, I believe, being involved? Why is it just the ABC that’s putting this out? They’ll surely look foolish if Sen. Obama’s own campaign admitted to it unwittingly! I just can’t see McCain’s campaign being so naive and blindly taking up any old news report or column just to attack B. Obama!
Besides, Amer Taheri is not just some fly-by-night journalist! He’s had many good column articles out. Surely he knows many of these figures, or about them? He’s an Iraqi too, isn’t he?
I knew from the title that Hagel was involved. Sumbitch sure is consistent.
Two things there, one is that nObamaniacs are in the tank already and they were hooked at "hope" and "change." No use for them.
The second, is the moderate/Reagan Democrat. This is the impact that is needed for them to show them that their party left them long ago and this would be the right time to get the f**k out of there before they get lumped in with the KOS/DU crowd. I can hardly see a RD agreeing to the same sh*t as as KOckSuck or a DUmmie. Just my take.
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