"Iraqi spokesman's" "clarification" came via CENTCOM, and other ridiculousness by VirginiaDem
Sat Jul 19, 2008 at 07:59:29 PM PDT
Woo hoo, this is rich:
Along those lines, Dr. Ali al-Dabbagh, who the Times calls a spokesman for the Iraqi government, has released a statement saying that Prime Minister Maliki's statement was "misunderstood and mistranslated" and "not conveyed accurately regarding the vision of Senator Barack Obama, U.S. presidential candidate, on the timeframe for U.S. forces withdrawal from Iraq." But as the Times notes al Dabbagh did not specify what had been mistranslated.
Another interesting detail, noted by the Times. al-Dabbagh's statement was released by CentCom. I do not know how often Iraqi government statements are released by CentCom.
So, the official Iraqi spokesman's statement was released by U.S. Central Command? Um, are they fucking kidding us? Couldn't they be a little more subtle about this?
On top of that, really? A misinterpretation? Really?! How could this whole thing be a misinterpretation? What, did the reputed and storied Der Spiegel drop a "not" here or there? Did Maliki really mean:
"U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama talks about 16 months," he said in an interview with Der Spiegel that was released Saturday.
"That, we think, would be (NOT) right time frame for a withdrawal, with (NOT) the possibility of slight changes," he said.
I mean, please. How tortured. I can't wait for Der Spiegel to release the tape, because I have a feeling that a news magazine that battled with Nazi Germany and Communist East Germany is a little more savvy than the White House ... I'm sorry ... the Iraqi spokesman is giving it credit for.
Also, equally as (NOT) subtle is the alleged spokesman himself. Could they have tried to use someone who hasn't been a mouthpiece for the administration already? Someone who, I dunno, hasn't given press conferences from the freakin' White House Conference Center Briefing Room standing next to Dana freakin' Perino?! Repeatedly!?
MORE (WITH LINKS):
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/7/19/224359/002/167/554100