Iraq's Al-Maliki supports Obama's position on US troop withdrawal

Last night, CNN aired an exclusive interview with Iraqi Prime Minister Al-Maliki.  Most of the publicity generated by this interview has centered on Al-Maliki's get-tough pronouncements toward the Al-Sadr Mehdi Militia, with some mention also of his opposition to the State Department's renewal of Blackwater's contract.  

While these are both important issues in themselves, another aspect of Al-Maliki's CNN interview has gone unnoticed and unreported in any headlines that I can find.  Quite simply, Maliki directly asserted that he is perfectly fine with Barack Obama's call to quickly draw down U.S. troops in Iraq, flatly contradicting the doomsday scenarios put forth by McCain, Bush, and the Republicans.  

I've transcribed the relevant segment of the interview on Page 2, below:

CNN's Nic Robertson:

Presidential candidate Barack Obama has indicated if he becomes President, he might draw down U.S. troops here very quickly.  Do you have concerns about that?

Prime Minister Al-Maliki:

No. I'm not concerned at all. I believe our troops are very strong, and God willing, this year we will have the rest of our capability: power with the arrival of new weaponry, from FMS, from military purchases or direct imports, and the purchases of our troops. I am not at all concerned, and this is a decision of the next American President.  He assesses the interests of America and the forces on Iraqi soil.

As General Petraeus prepares to tell Congress how horrendous it would be to Iraqi security and the lives of Iraqi citizens for U.S. troops to pull back now, even to continue to draw down the "Surge", it is enlightening to learn how the very Iraqi leader that Bush and his apologists so firmly support actually feels about the same issue.  No need to listen to, you know, the Government of the country we are supposedly "helping", when it comes to deciding how much "help" they need?