Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
CNN
June 11, 2008 The Situation Room (CNN), 5:00 PM
WOLF BLITZER: The United States and Iraq right now seem increasingly at odds over just how many U.S. troops should stay in Iraq, for how long, and what should they be doing there.
Let's go live to our senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre. He is working this story.
We're hearing from more and more of these Iraqi politicians, including Shiite leaders close to the prime minister. Some of them sound very much like some of the political campaigners right here in the U.S.
JAMIE MCINTYRE: That's right, Wolf.
The latest calls for U.S. troops to leave Iraq sooner rather than later are coming from Iraq itself, and that could change a key dynamic in the U.S. presidential race.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MCINTYRE: Republican John McCain has tied his campaign strategy on Iraq to a simple premise, that America should stay as long as needed to ensure victory, even if it spells his defeat.
MCCAIN: I would much rather lose a political campaign than lose a war.
MCINTYRE: But, on this issue, Iraqis have a vote. And in the heated negotiations between Washington and Baghdad over a status of forces agreement, some Iraqi politicians are saying, if there's no deal, U.S. troops should just go.
That sounds more like Barack Obama, who wants to bring most U.S. troops home in 16 months. In Germany, President Bush insisted Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki appreciates the American presence.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You can find any voice you want on the Iraqi political scene and quote them, which is interesting, isn't it? Because, in the past, you could only find one voice, and now you can find a myriad of voices.
MCINTYRE: Talks are stalled over the extent U.S. forces can act without Iraqi permission. For example, Iraq wants U.S. troops to stay in their bases unless their help is requested.
The State Department, which is hammering out the agreement, insists it won't tie the hands of the next president. But, in an interview with CNN, Defense Secretary Robert Gates conceded, the scope of the accord could go beyond the kind of routine military agreements the U.S. has with more than 80 other countries and require congressional approval.
DEFENSE SECRETARY ROBERT GATES: If it emerges in a way that does make binding commitments that fit the treaty-making powers of the -- or treaty-ratification powers of the Senate, then it will have to go that direction. (END VIDEOTAPE)
MCINTYRE: So, Senator McCain can say it's really about casualties, not how long U.S. troops are there, and Senator Obama can say that he plans to bring troops home at the rate of two brigades a month. But the fact of the matter is, Wolf, either president, whoever is elected, may be faced with withdrawing troops on a timetable not entirely of his making -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Things are changing rapidly over there. All right, Jamie, thanks very much.
June 11, 2008 The Situation Room (CNN), 5:00 PM
WOLF BLITZER: The United States and Iraq right now seem increasingly at odds over just how many U.S. troops should stay in Iraq, for how long, and what should they be doing there.
Let's go live to our senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre. He is working this story.
We're hearing from more and more of these Iraqi politicians, including Shiite leaders close to the prime minister. Some of them sound very much like some of the political campaigners right here in the U.S.
JAMIE MCINTYRE: That's right, Wolf.
The latest calls for U.S. troops to leave Iraq sooner rather than later are coming from Iraq itself, and that could change a key dynamic in the U.S. presidential race.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MCINTYRE: Republican John McCain has tied his campaign strategy on Iraq to a simple premise, that America should stay as long as needed to ensure victory, even if it spells his defeat.
MCCAIN: I would much rather lose a political campaign than lose a war.
MCINTYRE: But, on this issue, Iraqis have a vote. And in the heated negotiations between Washington and Baghdad over a status of forces agreement, some Iraqi politicians are saying, if there's no deal, U.S. troops should just go.
That sounds more like Barack Obama, who wants to bring most U.S. troops home in 16 months. In Germany, President Bush insisted Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki appreciates the American presence.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You can find any voice you want on the Iraqi political scene and quote them, which is interesting, isn't it? Because, in the past, you could only find one voice, and now you can find a myriad of voices.
MCINTYRE: Talks are stalled over the extent U.S. forces can act without Iraqi permission. For example, Iraq wants U.S. troops to stay in their bases unless their help is requested.
The State Department, which is hammering out the agreement, insists it won't tie the hands of the next president. But, in an interview with CNN, Defense Secretary Robert Gates conceded, the scope of the accord could go beyond the kind of routine military agreements the U.S. has with more than 80 other countries and require congressional approval.
DEFENSE SECRETARY ROBERT GATES: If it emerges in a way that does make binding commitments that fit the treaty-making powers of the -- or treaty-ratification powers of the Senate, then it will have to go that direction. (END VIDEOTAPE)
MCINTYRE: So, Senator McCain can say it's really about casualties, not how long U.S. troops are there, and Senator Obama can say that he plans to bring troops home at the rate of two brigades a month. But the fact of the matter is, Wolf, either president, whoever is elected, may be faced with withdrawing troops on a timetable not entirely of his making -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Things are changing rapidly over there. All right, Jamie, thanks very much.