NPR: Al-Maliki Says Petraeus is Wrong about Troop Needs

Al-Maliki Says Petraeus is Wrong about Troop Needs

It seems Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama may have found an unlikely ally for their stance in favor of early withdrawals of U.S. troops from Iraq - Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Both Democrats say they'll start pulling out U.S. troops if they are elected in the fall. And it seems that would be just fine with al-Maliki

Over the past two days, Petraeus has repeatedly told members of Congress that withdrawals needed to be halted at the end of July for a 45-day evaluation period, to be followed by an indefinite assessment period before troop withdrawals begin again.

But The Associated Press reports that al-Maliki doesn't agree with Petraeus.

"The prime minister told [President] Bush during a 20-minute telephone conversation on Wednesday that Iraqi security forces are capable of carrying out their duties and U.S. troops should be pulled out as the situation permits, according to a senior government adviser who sat in on the phone conversation. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to disclose the confidential details."

After the recent offensive in Basra, President Bush hailed Maliki's "bold moves." But during congressional testimony, Petraeus said al-Maliki made the decision to attact Shiite militias in the southern city on his own, and did not heed U.S. military advice on the situation.

Last May, President Bush said that anytime Iraq asked the U.S. troops to leave, they would leave. It will be interesting to see if President Bush will honor that promise if the wishes of the Iraqi Prime Minister -- who he has praised for his "strength of character" and "good judgement" -- continue to conflict with that wishes of his senior military commanders.

4:00 PM ET | 04-10-2008 | permalink

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