In error, WH released al-Maliki’s support for Obama’s plan

Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki

Yes, it is true that the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said: “U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama talks about 16 months. That, we think, would be the right timeframe for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes,” al-Maliki told the magazine Der Spiegel. He said he wants U.S. troops to leave “as soon as possible.”

The point is, it was not the Bush’s White House intention to inform the public of this embarrassing news. A Bush White House press officer mistakenly hit the wrong button and sent the news media a Reuters article saying Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki backs presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama’s troop withdrawal plan.

Scott Stanzel, White House spokesman, noted "It was a mistake. Clips list for staff was supposed to be the addressee."

Obama campaign quickly took advantage of the mistake, forwarding an ABC report detailing the incident to its press list.

The White House press is known to have made similar embarrassing mistakes in the past.

The Bush administration’s recently made an agreement with al-Maliki on a "general time horizon" for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq. Some are saying that Bushes’ plan resembles Obama’s proposal that U.S. forces should leave within 16 months.