BERLIN (Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki told a German magazine he supported prospective U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's proposal that U.S. troops should leave Iraq within 16 months.

In an interview with Der Spiegel released on Saturday, Maliki said he wanted U.S. troops to withdraw from Iraq as soon as possible.

"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."

It is the first time he has backed the withdrawal timetable put forward by Obama, who is visiting Afghanistan and us set to go to Iraq as part of a tour of Europe and the Middle East.

Ouch.

I'm not sure how I feel about this as it relates to policy, because I don't know a lot about Maliki and don't trust news reports one way or another.  (Others should feel free to enlighten me.)  From a purely domestic political perspective, though, this is quite powerful.

So Maliki endorses Obama, for all practical purposes.  Who's next?  Merkel?  Brown?  Karzai?  Sarkie?  Not being a big believer in the idea that foreign leaders and citizens should keep their opinions to themselves about our election, I say they should quit being sissies.


Conservatives want live babies so they can raise them to be dead soldiers. - George Carlin