Monday, I did something I don't normally do. I gave the Bush administration, John McCain, the mainstream media, and various neocons the benefit of the doubt. After seven years of lies, propaganda, and straight-up BS, none of them deserve it. In a post I called "The Game Changer," I pretty much treated a statement by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki the same way the press had -- it was a mistranslation. Not that I bought that -- in fact, I noted that the "mistranslation" denial came after Maliki was pressured by the White House and that denial didn't come from Maliki's office, but through US Central Command (CENTCOM). After that, I pretty much let it slide.
Of course, that's because -- for the sake of my argument -- it didn't matter whether or not Maliki had actually endorsed Barack Obama's plan for Iraq or not. For a long period of time, there was no denial and, during that period, Team McCain basically said that what Iraq wanted didn't matter. "...voters care about [the] military, not about Iraqi leaders," a McCainster was quoted as saying. I did what I always do; I called a spade a spade and pointed out that this was imperialism.
It turns out I didn't need to be so cautious. Maliki said what he said and he meant it. Juan Cole, has the statement, originally published in the German magazine Der Spiegel:
Maliki: As soon as possible, as far as we're concerned. U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama talks about 16 months. That, we think, would be the right timeframe for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes.
SPIEGEL: Is this an endorsement for the US presidential election in November? Does Obama, who has no military background, ultimately have a better understanding of Iraq than war hero John McCain?
Maliki: Those who operate on the premise of short time periods in Iraq today are being more realistic. Artificially prolonging the tenure of US troops in Iraq would cause problems. Of course, this is by no means an election endorsement. Who they choose as their president is the Americans' business. But it's the business of Iraqis to say what they want.
Seems pretty cut and dried to me. Given the broader context, it's hard to see how a mistranslation could possibly change the meaning. In fact, Cole has info that casts the "mistranslation" line in doubt. In dispelling the "Obama is right" comment, the US used a stooge...
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