Barack's New Partner

Barack has arrived in Baghdad, with the world still confused over his Iraq plan. Which is just the way he wants it.

As Sen. Barack Obama headed to Iraq for his first visit as a presidential
candidate, his plan for bringing the war to a swift conclusion was
triggering a political furor abroad and at home, with a U.S. military leader
declaring Sunday that setting a hard deadline for withdrawing troops is
risky.

The confusion created by Barack's refinement of his 16 month withdrawal plan leaves some thinking he's abandoned it (correct), and others assuming, or pretending, that he's still committed to systematically withdrawing troops without regard for events on the ground.

One of McCain's foreign policy advisors, Randy Scheunemann, said in a prepared
statement: "Barack Obama says he wants a 'safe and responsible' withdrawal from
Iraq, but is stubbornly adhering to an unconditional withdrawal that places
politics above the advice of our military commanders, the success of our troops,
and the security of the American people."

Barack is getting some help in creating confusion from the Prime Minister of Iraq, who is facing his own electoral challenges that make talking out of both sides of his mouth as appealing as it is for Obama.

Iraq's prime minister, Nouri Maliki, had appeared to approve of Obama's
plan to close out the war. In an interview with a German magazine published
Saturday, Maliki said the 16-month deadline "would be the right time frame
for a withdrawal. . . ."

Then came the refinement.

But on Sunday, a Maliki spokesman said the magazine, Der Spiegel,
had misinterpreted the prime minister's comments.

Sound familiar?