What is Digg?140 Comments
- lsumed, on 07/19/2008, -6/+62If the leader says get out, what's to debate? Get the hell out.
- duckley, on 07/19/2008, -10/+48It is AMAZING how prescient Senator Obama has been about the best ways to deal with Iraq.
- mommacat, on 07/19/2008, -14/+44mccain = bush. Im sure al malaki thinks bush and mccain are idiots so its no surprise to me he backs obama. Bush Mccains plan is about keeping money flowing to oil companies and war profiteers, at the taxpayers expense. Its not about iraq or the US, its about money and greed. Im so sick of republicans and thier sick ideas to plunder resources ! Sadly there are still a lot of dumb people that would vote for a 3rd bush /mccain term because theyre brainwashed with the patriotism/religion crap that is ruining this country. Im not against either, but PLEASE dont use to manipulate folks so you can steal oil and profit from war.
- dn11, on 07/19/2008, -6/+30Maliki knows nothing of the situation he hasn't been to Iraq he's not listening to the generals on the ground....
- inactive, on 07/20/2008, -11/+34Dugg for the most unbiased news organization on the planet.
- inactive, on 07/21/2008, -9/+27His "retraction" is betrayed now by two revelations:
1) It was his own translator who provided the transcript to Der Spiegel
2) The NY Times has tapes of the interview, did their own independent translation, and confirmed that he specifically referenced Obama and specifically endorsed his plan for withdrawal.
It's fun to watch Bush/McCain apologists ***** their pants trying to come to grips with this. All it took was a few choice words from the Iraqi PM to flip their little fantasy and make them wet the bed. Their desperation tastes sweet. - Manchowder, on 07/21/2008, -5/+20The "mistranslated" line is straight from the military propaganda office.
Independent translations say Der Spiegel is correct in standing by its story.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/21/us/politics/21ob ...
Key lines:
“Unfortunately, Der Spiegel was not accurate,” Mr. Dabbagh said Sunday by telephone. “I have the recording of the voice of Mr. Maliki. We even listened to the translation.”
But the interpreter for the interview works for Mr. Maliki’s office, not the magazine. And in an audio recording of Mr. Maliki’s interview that Der Spiegel provided to The New York Times, Mr. Maliki seemed to state a clear affinity for Mr. Obama’s position, bringing it up on his own in an answer to a general question on troop presence.
The following is a direct translation from the Arabic of Mr. Maliki’s comments by The Times: “Obama’s remarks that — if he takes office — in 16 months he would withdraw the forces, we think that this period could increase or decrease a little, but that it could be suitable to end the presence of the forces in Iraq.”
He continued: “Who wants to exit in a quicker way has a better assessment of the situation in Iraq.” - gbates31, on 07/21/2008, -1/+16Iraq is a sovereign nation. So says Article I of their constitution. Yes, Iraq has a constitution and they have declared sovereignty. If they request that we get out ASAP, like they have already, then we should respect that or be prepared to face the consequences, as we are right now.
What's even better than Obama's troop withdrawal plan is that we have until December 31st of this year to pass a Status of Forces Agreement with Iraq if we wish to continue our military presence in Iraq. At that point we MUST leave or we are officially occupiers against the will of the Iraqi people and their parliament. I predict an explosion of violence after that date if no SOFA is passed and we still have a troop presence. - Ridgeliner7, on 07/20/2008, -14/+27USA TODAY:
Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has not endorsed any specific timeframe for possible U.S. troops withdrawals, a government spokesman said Sunday.
The statement by Ali al-Dabbagh came after an article was published by Germany’s Der Spiegel magazine which quoted al-Maliki as favoring the 16-month withdrawal window proposed by Barack Obama.
Al-Dabbagh said al-Maliki’s views were “misunderstood and mistranslated” by Der Spiegel and that the prime minister backs a general vision of pulling out U.S. combat forces based on talks with Washington “and in the light of the continuing positive developments on the ground, and “should not be understood as support to any U.S. presidential candidates.”
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-07-20-iraq ... - xaoiv, on 07/21/2008, -8/+20VBDon, al-Maliki has NOT denied the claim that he thinks Obama has a better plan for withdrawal and "a better assessment" of Iraq. He merely clarified that he was not seeking to endorse Obama.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/07/20/iraq/mai ...
The New York Times has also confirmed that al-Maliki was not mistranslated:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/21/us/politics/21ob ... - cybergal619, on 07/20/2008, -9/+17But, but, nobody knows Iraq like McCain. ...
- inactive, on 07/21/2008, -7/+15It's amazing how you tools don't even know that Maliki's own translator was the one translating. It's also amazing how you forget that Maliki has been in favour of withdrawing American troops for quite some time now.
- inactive, on 07/21/2008, -1/+9Furthermore: If the translation was incorrect, what was the correct translation?
- zippy757, on 07/21/2008, -12/+19We should rename DIGG to HUFFINGTON GROUPIES BLOGG
- hollyminkowski, on 07/21/2008, -10/+17Iraqi PM disputes report on withdrawal plan
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/07/19/almaliki ... - inactive, on 07/21/2008, -10/+16Have a read some time. It's completely true.
- gbates31, on 07/21/2008, -6/+12From what I've read, the retraction came from the US CentCom. Also, from what I've read, it's highly unusual for a foreign government to release a statement from CentCom. Food for thought.
- Fathom, on 07/21/2008, -7/+13Why do you people try to bury down what is true? Burying down the comments proving this story as inaccurate makes you the propaganda whores you all claim to hate.
"misunderstood, mistranslated and not conveyed accurately."
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/07/19/almaliki ... - archiesteel, on 07/21/2008, -0/+6Yes he does.
ROFLMAO - pgoetz, on 07/21/2008, -4/+10Another Bush ass-kisser in denial...
- VitriolAndAngst, on 07/21/2008, -2/+8So der Spiegel was telling the truth and it was the Pentagon pushing false information that all the NeoCon bloggers of course regurgitated as gospel?
Oh, I'm so damn surprised you could knock me over with a feather. - inactive, on 07/21/2008, -2/+7Why obviously it was something along the lines of "we will not surrender to terror and we stand 110% behind brave president Bush who has nobly committed $15 billion/month to ensuring that Iraqis have no electricity and can get shot for wearing the wrong color headscarf on tuesdays."
- iofthestorm, on 07/21/2008, -2/+7Fake Obama FTL.
- marc123, on 07/21/2008, -2/+7I wouldn't say he has been prescient. Anyone broadly familiar with the inglorious recent history of US foreign policy would have had the same reservations if not more so.
- thatsmyaibo, on 07/21/2008, -4/+9But but but it was on Huffington Post! That is where I get all my non biased news.
- revisrev, on 07/21/2008, -0/+5I think that what the hawks who want to stay are missing is the fact that these (Iraqi) people don't have a lot of reason to trust the strength of their own democracy. If we stay against the will of their democratically elected leaders then we are showing them that their government is not sovereign. At that point it doesn't take a lot of imagination to envision a military strong man rising up and seizing power "For a strong Iraq."
If we want democracy to succeed in Iraq then we must comply with the wishes of their government. It is not democracy when we say so. It is democracy when the people are able to determine the direction of their government, and right now they are determining that we need to think about leaving.
This is why we must start talking to their neighbors, and investing ourselves in the Iraqi interest now. The Bush administration wanted democracy in Iraq? Well, this is it. If they want that democracy to succeed then we have to talk to Iran and Syria in a friendly manner, even if it pisses Israel off. If we continue to be adversarial with Iran and less than cordial with Syria then we are giving them strong incentives to throw democracy in Iraq off course, which they can do. We have to provide more carrots, less sticks when it comes to Iraq's neighbors, that is, if we want democracy in Iraq to succeed, and maybe spread. - treehugger87, on 07/21/2008, -2/+6No, he can't. This is republican subterfuge account m301. Only subterfuge accounts lettered g-k can articulate. Letters l-n can only make ungrounded claims.
- celkin, on 07/21/2008, -0/+4If no SOFA is passed, the living room will become very crowded!
- hamidrezan, on 07/21/2008, -2/+6A wise politician... which we don't have many!
- VitriolAndAngst, on 07/21/2008, -2/+5Yeah, the war profiteers and the Pentagon have "grave doubts" that we can get in a car and drive to a ***** air port.
Most of the time, our troops are barricaded in. The only thing we provide for "order" is a thorn in the side of Iraq. A constant reminder of their humiliation.
If Russia had a fire base sitting in your city -- how would you feel? If we had made things better for the average person in Iraq, this might be a different story -- but it is screwed up beyond repair. Time to leave. It's not like a retreat from an army with weapons. Withdrawing from Iraq would be quick and easy -- but would cost money to fat crooks, who seem to get out in front of the camera and awful lot. - archiesteel, on 07/21/2008, -3/+6Damage control - he said what he said.
- SupTricolor, on 07/21/2008, -1/+4Bush thinks he IS the leader.
- eastclintwood, on 07/21/2008, -0/+3Hmm, appears al-Maliki wasn't so mistranslated after all...
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gkx-3oYeFwuWKCu ...
"Iraq's government spokesman is hopeful that U.S. combat forces could be out of the country by 2010...The timeframe is similar to Obama's proposal to pull back combat troops within 16 months. " - grungegbunny, on 07/21/2008, -3/+6In your face Bush!
- aliengoods, on 07/21/2008, -0/+3What are you talking about?
- revisrev, on 07/21/2008, -3/+6This story covers the rebuttal, and the dismantling thereof.
- disappointment, on 07/21/2008, -9/+12Huffington Post: keeping the campaign 2008 score only a portion of diggers care about
- FrenchAnarchy, on 07/21/2008, -2/+5Can you articulate what exactly makes it inaccurate?
- jshooter1377, on 07/21/2008, -0/+3Weapons of Mass Destruction? Hahaha, you do know those reports were lies...don't you? Cause they were...the people who made them said so.
- exemef, on 07/21/2008, -0/+3That's the point, he is there because he is going to get a better assessment on how to end it.
That he has to go in the first place is the problem. - treehugger87, on 07/21/2008, -0/+2C'mon man, it was FUNNY! I'm still laughing at my own joke!
You, however, are failing to document your assertions. From a post above replying to a claim similar to yours:
'al-Maliki has NOT denied the claim that he thinks Obama has a better plan for withdrawal and "a better assessment" of Iraq. He merely clarified that he was not seeking to endorse Obama.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/07/20/iraq/mai ...
The New York Times has also confirmed that al-Maliki was not mistranslated:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/21/us/politics/21ob ...' - haentz, on 07/21/2008, -0/+2Here is the English version of the article in question at Der Spiegel:
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,5 ...
And a follow-up:
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,5 ... - dexter411, on 07/21/2008, -6/+8This isn't about accuracy. It's about fanboyism of our Lord and Savior, BHO.
- TheInformer, on 07/21/2008, -4/+6Huffington has never been about legitimacy in news posting. It's been about getting the myrmidons to post their "stories" so that Huffington makes a profit.
- aliengoods, on 07/21/2008, -0/+2Um, NO. "Al Queda" was never in Iraq. There was "Al Queda in Iraq" which is not the same group/orgainization and only numbered a between 1000 and 2000 depending on whose estimates you believe. They were never a real threat with the exception of a couple of cities.
Also, the Iranian insurgents problem was vastly overstated. The main problem was the power struggle between the Sunni, Shiites, and Kurds, all of which hate the Iranians. The main reason the surge has worked (strictly in terms of the conflict) is because we allowed the bloody civil war to which you refer to happen, and a number of provinces have been ethnically cleansed. In other words there is no one left to kill in many of the hotspots that were part of the original problem.
Also, in terms of allowing the Iraqi government to move forward the surge has been a failure. They still don't have a plan to share oil revenues and the Sunni people are all but banned from participating in the government. How is that any type of success towards unification of the Iraqi people?
Now, I await your well thought out retort.....but I'm not going to hold my breath. - revisrev, on 07/21/2008, -1/+3It's either let their democracy be sovereign or be in there for the long haul. Personally, I didn't want to invade, but we did, and now we have Iraqi Democracy. We should respect their right to sovereignty.
- dexter411, on 07/21/2008, -0/+2... We weren't attacked by Germany.
- dexter411, on 07/21/2008, -1/+3"We went to war because of WMD. We still have not found them so we must stay."
We went to war in 1941 because Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, so was stopping Hitler's rape of Europe misguided? - nedzeve, on 07/21/2008, -0/+2Well, for what it's worth, it was obvious to me that both of you were being facetious. But it's pretty hard to convey that on DIGG for some reason.
- archiesteel, on 07/21/2008, -3/+5...and by clarified, you mean "changed following pressure from the White House." Yeah, the original tapes are pretty clear, no amount of spin is going to put the genie back in the bottle.
Thanks for the great campaign, McCain, sorry it didn't work out for you in the end... -
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