In a radio address Saturday, McCain said: "My opponent . . . announced his strategy for Afghanistan and Iraq before departing on a fact-finding mission that will include visits to both those countries. Apparently, he's confident enough that he won't find any facts that might change his opinion or alter his strategy. Remarkable."
Obama is scheduled to visit the Middle East and Europe in what will probably become a media spectacle, with television news anchors covering each stop as though Obama were a head of state.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Monday, July 21, 2008 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 39 words Type of Material: Correction
Iraq withdrawal: A headline on Sunday's front page on an article about Democratic candidate Barack Obama's visit to Afghanistan and his withdrawal plan for Iraq referred to Nouri Maliki as the Iraqi president. He is the country's prime minister.
Images of adoring crowds greeting Obama in Germany and elsewhere feed into a campaign strategy to demonstrate that as president he would improve the United States' beleaguered reputation in Europe.
Before landing in Afghanistan, the delegation stopped in Kuwait.
Obama relaxed there with U.S. troops, taking to the basketball court for a game of H-O-R-S-E.
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peter.nicholas@latimes.com
Times staff writer Nicholas reported from Washington and special correspondent Faiez from Kabul. Times staff writers Laura King in Istanbul, Turkey, Michael Muskal in Los Angeles and Nicholas Riccardi in New York contributed to this report.
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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)
What Maliki said
Here is a part of Iraqi leader Nouri Maliki's interview with the German magazine Der Spiegel, in which he supported Barack Obama's timeline for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq:
Would you hazard a prediction as to when most of the U.S. troops will finally leave Iraq?
As soon as possible, as far as we're concerned. U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama talks about 16 months. That, we think, would be the right time frame for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes.
Is this an endorsement for the U.S. presidential election in November? Does Obama, who has no military background, ultimately have a better understanding of Iraq than war hero John McCain?
Those who operate on the premise of short time periods in Iraq today are being more realistic. Artificially prolonging the tenure of U.S. troops in Iraq would cause problems. Of course, this is by no means an election endorsement. Who they choose as their president is the Americans' business. But it's the business of Iraqis to say what they want. And that's where the people and the government are in general agreement: The tenure of the coalition troops in Iraq should be limited.
Source: Der Spiegel
