Texasdarlin has two very interesting posts on Obama’s activities while on the campaign trail and in Iraq. It seems (and Obama’s own assertions appear to confim) that he illegally intervened in U.S. foreign policy discussions with Iraq by trying to influence the dates of a U.S. troop draw down. From the NY Post article on the story (by Amir Taheri)
WHILE campaigning in public for a speedy withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, Sen. Barack Obama has tried in private to persuade Iraqi leaders to delay an agreement on a draw-down of the American military presence.
According to Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, Obama made his demand for delay a key theme of his discussions with Iraqi leaders in Baghdad in July.
“He asked why we were not prepared to delay an agreement until after the US elections and the formation of a new administration in Washington,” Zebari said in an interview.
Obama insisted that Congress should be involved in negotiations on the status of US troops – and that it was in the interests of both sides not to have an agreement negotiated by the Bush administration in its “state of weakness and political confusion.” …
Though Obama claims the US presence is “illegal,” he suddenly remembered that Americans troops were in Iraq within the legal framework of a UN mandate. His advice was that, rather than reach an accord with the “weakened Bush administration,” Iraq should seek an extension of the UN mandate.
While in Iraq, Obama also tried to persuade the US commanders, including Gen. David Petraeus, to suggest a “realistic withdrawal date.” They declined.
If this does bear out, the implications for Obama are huge. The man could have brazenly committed a felony while on the campaign trail.
The arrogance required to push duly elected and appointed Bush administration officials out of the way so he could begin establishing his own foreign policy is truly astounding. Additionally, for a man who sells himself as a law professor, he shows either a surprising lack of knowledge about the illegality of his actions, or a complete disregard for the laws he was supposedly teaching his students; the same laws he would swear to uphold should he be elected.
(Side note to those who will bring up the ABC assertion that Bush administration officials were in the meeting with Obama and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and that nothing untoward occurred. The NY Post article by Taheri and his rebuttal of the Obama campaigns response is also referring to a meeting that Obama attended — alone, in the U.S. — with Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari. Also, read Texasdarlin’s second update post which looks at Obama’s own description of the two agreements required for the troop presence in Iraq. His own words indicate that he understood he was discussing the extension of the Status of Forces Agreement, not just the Strategic Framework Agreement.
As another aside, it is interesting to see what Taheri describes as the “evolution” of the Obama plan for Iraq. Obama has repeatedly stated throughout the campaign that the U.S. actions in Iraq were illegal, that he has always opposed the Iraq war, and that he would push for an immediate withdrawal. However, it is now very apparent that he is negotiating with Iraqi officials to have the U.S. military remain in Iraq past 2011 (2012? 2013?). He is also now admitting that the U.S. is in Iraq under an internationally-recognized U.N. mandate.
I wonder how the anti-war forces are going to like this “evolution” or “nuance” in the Obama position on the war on terror?
