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Heading to Iraq

Obama's stance on ending war stirs controversy as he visits region

BY PETER NICHOLAS AND M. KARIM FAIEZ | Los Angeles Times

July 21, 2008

KABUL, Afghanistan - As Sen. Barack Obama heads to Iraq for his first visit as a presidential candidate, his plan for bringing the war to a swift conclusion is triggering a political furor abroad and at home, with a U.S. military leader declaring yesterday that setting a hard deadline for withdrawing troops is risky.

Obama is scheduled to meet political leaders who were scrambling over the weekend to clarify an apparent endorsement of his proposal to pull U.S. forces out of Iraq in 16 months.

The stop in Iraq is part of a weeklong tour of the Middle East and Europe, affording Obama the chance to showcase a fluency in foreign affairs.

Yesterday he met Afghan President Hamid Karzai, describing the conflict in Afghanistan as the central front in the U.S. fight against terrorism, according to Karzai aides. The presumptive Democratic nominee wants to wind down U.S. involvement in Iraq and redeploy troops and resources to Afghanistan, a country he said has devolved yet again into a sanctuary for terrorists intent on harming the United States.

"There is starting to be a growing consensus that it's time for us to withdraw some of our combat troops out of Iraq, deploy them here in Afghanistan," Obama said during an interview on CBS' "Face the Nation." "And I think we have to seize that opportunity. Now is the time for us to do it."

Central to Obama's strategy is a plan to remove troops from Iraq in 16 months, although he has said he would fine-tune his tactics, depending on conditions on the ground and advice he receives from military leaders.

One such leader stepped into the debate yesterday. Adm. Michael G. Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in an appearance on "Fox News Sunday" that setting a two-year deadline to pull all troops out of Iraq would not be advisable.

"I think the consequences could be very dangerous in that regard," Mullen said. "I'm convinced at this point in time that making reductions based on conditions on the ground are very important."

Obama's expected Republican opponent in November, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, was buoyed by Mullen's remarks. One of McCain's foreign policy advisers, Randy Scheunemann, said in a prepared statement: "Barack Obama says he wants a 'safe and responsible' withdrawal from Iraq, but is stubbornly adhering to an unconditional withdrawal that places politics above the advice of our military commanders, the success of our troops, and the security of the American people."

Obama's plan to close out the war had seemed to win validation from Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. In an interview with a German magazine published Saturday, al-Maliki said the 16-month deadline "would be the right time frame for a withdrawal ... " But yesterday, an al-Maliki spokesman said the magazine, Der Spiegel, had misinterpreted the prime minister's comments.

The spokesman, Ali al-Dabbagh, said al-Maliki had told the magazine that improved security in Iraq would permit the exit of U.S. forces within certain "horizons and timelines," language that more closely tracks the Bush administration's official position.

The White House announced Friday that Bush had agreed in a video call with al-Maliki on a "general times horizon" for withdrawing U.S. combat troops, a softening of his long-standing opposition to deadlines.

THE TRIP

Obama was in Kuwait last night with Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah.

Today, he was to fly to Iraq to meet with political leaders and U.S. military.

Obama's meeting with Afghan leader Hamid Karzai yesterday was the first of several meetings planned with world leaders.