As everyone as heard, Iraqi doesn't really want to be a part of the Coalition of the Willing anymore. That's fairly problematic, since the Coalition of the Willing are the ones willing to waste resources in Iraq to try and make up for the strategic mistake of having entered Iraq in the first place! In other words, the Coalition of the Willing does not have a willing host anymore. They're, well, we're being asked to leave. Everyone speculated on what McCain would do or say. Will he embrace al-Maliki's proclamation as a chance to finally save the Republican Party?
No. Why? Per Michael Cooper at the New York Times;
Mr. McCain said it was the same as when Iraqi officials said recently that they doubted an agreement with the United States could be struck over the status of American forces. "Prime Minister Malki, is, has got his, he is a leader of a country,’’ Mr. McCain said, according to a pool report. "And I am confident that he will act, as the president and foreign minister have both told me in the last several days, that it will be directly related to the situation on the ground, just as they have always said. And since we are succeeding and then I am convinced, as I have said before, we can withdraw and withdraw with honor, not according to a set timetable. And I’m confident that is what Prime Minister Maliki is talking about since he has told me that for the many meetings we have had."
I added the emphasis myself. I have spent the last few minutes trying to figure out what exactly McCain was saying when stating that. We'll withdraw with honor, but not on a set timetable? So we're withdrawing on a set honor-table? I really thought McCain would seize the opportunity to say, "see, the surge worked, now we can talk about leaving!" After all, it's not like the media(McCain's base) would accuse him of flip-flopping like they did to Obama when McCain's camp prodded them to! Of course, looking at what McCain said to the reporter, I have to agree with Michael Cooper's title of his piece; McCain Dismisses Iraqi Idea of Troop Withdrawal. Let's quote from Yahoo/AP;
Iraq's national security adviser said Tuesday his country will not accept any security deal with the United States unless it contains specific dates for the withdrawal of U.S.-led forces.
That's a little straightforward, no? Let's try the Times of London;
Iraq said for the first time yesterday that it wanted to set a timetable for the withdrawal of US troops from its territory.
Let's recap on what Senator McCain said;
"And since we are succeeding and then I am convinced, as I have said before, we can withdraw and withdraw with honor, not according to a set timetable. And I’m confident that is what Prime Minister Maliki is talking about since he has told me that for the many meetings we have had."
I think Senator Lieberman better start checking Senator McCain's bearings again. Of course, McCain's new position(or rather, his new confusion) is still developing! According to Yahoo/AP from just over half-an-hour ago;
Republican presidential candidate John McCain played down reports Tuesday that Iraqi officials are increasing pressure on the United States to agree to a specific timeline to withdraw its forces.
McCain said he was confident the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki would ask American troops to leave only if the military situation there warranted such a move.
"I know for a fact that it will be dictated by the situation on the ground, as it always has been," McCain said.
Dictated by the situation on the ground? The guy who leads the people who own that ground is asking for us to leave! He's asking for a time-line. What did Schmidt let McCain drink tonight? Seriously, his campaign was in horrible shape for awhile. People wondered what he was talking about when he said Iran and Al-Qaeda were cooperating. They were awe-struck when he preempted Obama's historic speech in St. Paul with his own speech, now made infamous for its promises to deliver a bottle of hot water to dehydrated babies. People were confused when McCain went to Mexico and Columbia to talk up free-trade while most of the country thinks free-trade has been heavily damaging to certain sectors of our economy. Senator Obama was right; Senator McCain is losing his bearings.