Now the German magazine der Spiegel reports that the Iraqi Prime Minister al-Maliki has clarified his position on US troop withdrawals, and he does indeed like withdrawal in 16 months. One question that would be interesting is would al-Maliki have liked the 16 month plan back in March 2007 when Obama proposed it? It seems that the so-called surge has made it possible for the US to leave. I recall that Obama said the surge wouln't work, and now says it didn't work. On TV I saw him say that the Iraqi's have not met any of the 18 benchmarks that the Administration set for them. The Administration says that 15 have been met. It is pretty clear that the situation.

It may be that al-Maliki simply sees Obama as the next President, and wants to curry favor with him. Obama's tour of Europe certainly indicates that Obama sees himself as the leader of America now. He may be correct becasue the country seems ready to give socialism another try. The Europeans certainly favor Obama, at least in part because they see him as a socialist. Foreigners always favor the Democrat for President. I remember talking about politics with a Brazialian student back when I was in Graduate School. He said he favored the Democrats becasue they were best for Brazil. I asked him who he would be for if he were an American. He said in that case he would be a Republican. I vote Republican because I am for Americans rather than foreigners.