WAR ZONE TOUR
BAGHDAD — Face to face with Iraq’s leaders, Barack Obama gained fresh support Monday for the idea of pulling all U.S. combat forces out of the war zone by 2010.
But the Iraqis stopped short of actual timetables or endorsement of Obama’s pledge to withdraw troops within 16 months if he wins the presidency.
(AP)
(AP)
Back in the U.S., Republican rival John McCain said he hoped Obama’s visit would open his eyes to the danger of withdrawal timetables.
The Arizona senator, who was meeting with President Bush’s father, said: ‘‘When you win wars, troops come home.’’
He said of Obama: ‘‘He’s been completely wrong on the issue.’’
As Obama visited Iraq for the first time in more than two years, comments Monday by the government’s spokesman roughly mirrored the Democrat’s withdrawal schedule and offered a glimpse of Iraq’s growing confidence as violence drops and Iraqi security forces expand their roles.
‘‘We are hoping that in 2010 that combat troops will withdraw from Iraq,’’ the government spokesman said after Obama met with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki — who has struggled for days to clarify Iraq’s position on a possible timetable for a U.S. troop pullout.
Obama also got a briefing from the top U.S. commander in the region, Gen. David Petraeus, and met with U.S. troops. Obama said that military leaders have ‘‘deep concerns’’ about a timetable that doesn’t account for changing conditions.
‘‘I don’t think that there are deep concerns about the notion of a pullout per se,’’ he said. ‘‘There are deep concerns from their perspective about a timetable that doesn’t take into account what they anticipate might be some sort of change in conditions.’’
The White House expressed unhappiness about Iraqi leaders’ apparent public backing for Obama’s troop withdrawal plans and suggested the Iraqis may be trying to use the U.S. presidential election as leverage for negotiations on America’s presence.
‘‘We don’t think that talking about specific negotiating tactics or your negotiating position in the press is the best way to negotiate a deal,’’ the White House said.
This is the third leg of Obama’s tour of the region, which has included stops in Kuwait and Afghanistan.