[Updated -- see below]

The New York Post’s Amir Taheri is reporting that Barack Obama’s statements on pulling out of Iraq contradict what he told the Iraqis during his Chosen One World Tour this last summer:

WHILE campaigning in public for a speedy withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, Sen. Barack Obama has tried in private to persuade Iraqi leaders to delay an agreement on a draw-down of the American military presence.

According to Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, Obama made his demand for delay a key theme of his discussions with Iraqi leaders in Baghdad in July.

“He asked why we were not prepared to delay an agreement until after the US elections and the formation of a new administration in Washington,” Zebari said in an interview.

Obama insisted that Congress should be involved in negotiations on the status of US troops – and that it was in the interests of both sides not to have an agreement negotiated by the Bush administration in its “state of weakness and political confusion.”

“However, as an Iraqi, I prefer to have a security agreement that regulates the activities of foreign troops, rather than keeping the matter open.” Zebari says.

Though Obama claims the US presence is “illegal,” he suddenly remembered that Americans troops were in Iraq within the legal framework of a UN mandate. His advice was that, rather than reach an accord with the “weakened Bush administration,” Iraq should seek an extension of the UN mandate.

While in Iraq, Obama also tried to persuade the US commanders, including Gen. David Petraeus, to suggest a “realistic withdrawal date.” They declined.

Obama has made many contradictory statements with regard to Iraq. His latest position is that US combat troops should be out by 2010. Yet his effort to delay an agreement would make that withdrawal deadline impossible to meet.

Geez — can this guy ever play it straight with the American people that he so desperately wants to rule, be adored by, lead?

It sure doesn’t look like it to this ol’ Okie!

[Update]

It’s not just me commenting on this one. Ed Morrissey at Hot Air on Taheri’s credibility:

Taheri has had some credibility problems in the past. He falsely accused the Iranian mullahcracy, who really need no help in villainy, of passing dress-code legislation that required religious minorities to wear color-coded clothes. That created a firestorm until reporters reviewed the legislation and found no reference to any kind of requirement for dress identification for Jews, Christians, or Zoroastrians. Taheri offered a weak defense of his story, which was not sourced on the record, and it passed into urban-legend status.

This looks different, if for no other reason than Taheri’s main source goes on the record. Hoshyar Zebari didn’t hide behind a “high-level source in Baghdad” tag for this story. Zebari’s testimony puts the onus on Obama to explain why he attempted to interfere with the Bush administration’s negotiations despite his having absolutely no authority to do so. If Obama wants to negotiate a defeat for America, he needs to wait until Americans elect him to the White House before betraying our allies and our troops in the field.

The Anchoress has some questions of her own:

Can we call this “Troopergate ala Obama?”

The press, of course, will yawn over this. After all, it’s not like Obama paraphrased a Lincolnian prayer or did not ban books in a local library. As with any story touching negatively on Obama, the press will display a spectacular indifference to this question.

Someone needs to ask Obama about this charge. It is a “serious” one, so it’s game for questioning, don’t you think?

Bookworm is asking, “Does this sound like treason to you?”

And this is the man that approximately half of the country wants to see as Commander in Chief? Someone who will betray his own country and keep American troops at risk for an enterprise he believes is unnecessary simply for his own personal aggrandizement? If we needed any further evidence that Obama is unfit to walk through the door of the White House, this is it.

And finally, Laer at Cheet-Seeking Missiles sums it up nicely:

John McCain took a lot of heat for implying that Barack Obama was willing to lose the war in order to win the election. Now it turns out that wasn’t just political rhetoric but historical truth.

More when there’s more . . .

Technorati Tags: Barack Obama

This entry was posted on Monday, September 15th, 2008 at 11:50 am and is filed under Focus On Politics, Media Doin' It Right, Obama & His Slow Joe. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.  |   Print This Post  |   Email This Post

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