Obama to Meet With Officials in Iraq

By BRIAN MURPHY

By Brian Murphy

The Associated Press

BAGHDAD

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s visit to Iraq for talks with commanders of a war he long opposed follows the prime minister’s apparent endorsement of his troop withdrawal plan and a shift by the White House away from refusing to discuss that option.

Obama has called for withdrawing U.S. troops at the rate of one or two brigades a month, ending combat operations within 16 months of becoming president. He favors leaving behind a residual force to protect U.S. personnel, train Iraqi security forces and counter attacks by al-Qaida.

The Illinois senator, challenged at every turn on the Iraq issue by Republicans, including presidential rival Sen. John McCain, was expected to arrive in the country amid the controversy over comments by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki that were supportive of Obama’s 16- month timetable.

The Iraqi leader’s aides have said his remarks, published in a German magazine, were misunderstood and that he was not taking sides in the U.S. election. Earlier this month, however, al-Maliki said negotiations between his government and the United States on an agreement spelling out a continued role for U.S. forces in Iraq must include some kind of timetable for withdrawing troops from his country.

Last week, the White House said President Bush and al- Maliki had agreed to set a “general time horizon” for bringing home more U.S. troops, a dramatic shift from what had been the administration’s steadfast refusal to talk about any kind of deadline.

Obama was visiting as part of a congressional delegation that includes Sens. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., and Jack Reed, D-R.I. – both longtime critics of U.S. involvement in Iraq – after stops in Afghanistan and Kuwait. The delegation met Sunday in Kuwait City with Kuwait’s emir, Sheik Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah, and other senior officials, the Kuwait News Agency reported.

In Iraq, Obama was expected to meet with Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander, and al-Maliki. His aides provided few details , citing security concerns.

The trip will be Obama’s second to Iraq, but conditions are quite different from when he visited in January 2006. Obama’s first tour was treated as a footnote, while the country was caught in a growing Sunni insurgency and was moving toward a flood of sectarian violence. The bloodshed has declined significantly since Bush sent thousands more troops last year to help quell the rising violence.

McCain has been critical of Obama’s position on Iraq, saying the decision to pull out should be determined by progress, not a timetable.

He supports the war but has been critical of some aspects of its handling. He also was a vocal supporter of the decision to send in more troops.

U.S. commanders have begun withdrawing some of those additional troops, and Obama said he thinks they should be sent to Afghanistan – which he says is the “central front” in the fight against terrorism – to reinforce efforts there against a resurgent Taliban and to control spiraling violence.

McCain also supports sending troop reinforcements to Afghanistan.

“There’s starting to be a growing consensus that it’s time for us to withdraw some of our combat troops out of Iraq, deploy them here in Afghanistan, and I think we have to seize that opportunity. Now is the time for us to do it,” Obama said in a CBS News interview broadcast Sunday after a two-hour meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

“I think it’s important for us to begin planning for those brigades now. If we wait until the next administration, it could be a year before we get those additional troops on the ground here in Afghanistan, and I think that would be a mistake,” Obama said in the interview. “I think the situation is getting urgent enough that we have got to start doing something now.”

Obama said he and his colleagues were talking to military and diplomatic leaders as well as Afghanistan’s leaders about whether the United States has the right strategy and resources to defeat the Taliban and al-Qaida.

“Our message to the Afghan government is this: We want a strong partnership based on ‘more for more’ – more resources from the United States and NATO, and more action from the Afghan government to improve the lives of the Afghan people,” he said in a joint statement with Hagel and Reed. “We need a sense of urgency and determination.”

Earlier Sunday, Obama met and praised U.S. troops as he ate breakfast at a heavily fortified base in the capital.

“To see young people like this who are doing such excellent work, with so much dedication … it makes you feel good about the country,” Obama said in video footage.

Mideast visit

After stops in Afghanistan and Kuwait, Sen. Barack Obama was visiting Iraq as part of a congressional delegation that includes Sens. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., and Jack Reed, D-R.I. The delegation met Sunday in Kuwait City with Kuwait’s emir, Sheik Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah, and other senior officials, the Kuwait News Agency reported.

In Iraq, Obama was expected to meet with Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander, and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Originally published by BY BRIAN MURPHY.

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