Iraq PM Maliki: 'US troops should leave Iraq as soon as possible in 16 months'
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told Spegel that he supports U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama’s plan to withdraw American troops from Iraq within 16 months. He thinks it is the best possibility to improve for Iraq with minor changes.
Nouri al-Maliki, Iraq's Prime Minister
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Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki talked about Obama, the US troops and current political climate with German newspaper SpeigeL. In the interview, he was asked when he thinks the US troops should leave the country. He replied “as soon as possible, as far as we are concerned."
Maliki added that he agrees with Obama’s plan to withdraw the troops within the next 16 months in a phased manner, with a possibility of slight changes.
Maliki said that doesn’t mean he is endorsing Obama over McCain, but he prefers Obama’s plan over McCain's, who wants to
prolong the stay of the US troops in Iraq. Maliki said the later plan will cause problems in Iraq.
Though he wants the U.S. troops to withdraw, he also wants to maintain a long-term strategic treaty with the U.S. and improve economic and cultural relations. But, he wants the security agreement between the two countries to be effective only for a short term.
Another chief reason for wanting the US troops to withdraw is his government’s lack of control over the US troops in Iraq.
He told
SPIEGEL:
It is a fundamental problem for us that it should not be possible, in my country, to prosecute offences or crimes committed by US soldiers against our population,
Barack Obama is on a short trip to Afghanistan, Iraq as well as Europe. He plans to meet Maliki this Sunday but the exact itinerary was not announced because of security concerns.
Maliki has been trying to quell the open-ended presence of US troops in Iraq for a long time and he has been at odds with the Bush administration. But he hopes it will soon change as Bush’s tenure comes to an end. Even the Bush administration
talked about withdrawing US troops from Iraq for the first time this Friday.
Maliki told Spiegel that withdrawing US troops from Iraq doesn’t meet admitting defeat to the terrorists.
"But that isn't the case at all. If we come to an agreement, it is not evidence of a defeat, but of a victory, of a severe blow we have inflicted on al-Qaida and the militias."
Maliki has every right to say this as an Iraqi, but will the Bush administration and the succeeding administration agree with him and Iraq?
