Obama Touts Iraqi Support for Withdrawal Timeline

Barack Obama, fresh off the Iraq leg of his trip abroad, highlighted the support that he and Iraqi officials share for a timetable for a U.S. troop withdrawal from the country.

“I welcome the growing consensus in the United States and Iraq for a timeline,” Obama said at a news conference Tuesday in Amman, Jordan. “My view, based on the advice of military experts, is that we can redeploy safely in 16 months so that our combat brigades are out of Iraq in 2010.”

He acknowledged that there has been “security progress” since the U.S. military surge began last year, but he said that a political solution is still needed.

“The message we heard from Iraq’s leaders is that they’re ready to do more, and they want to take more responsibility for their country,” he said. “And I believe that the best way to support Iraqi sovereignty and to encourage the Iraqis to stand up is through the responsible redeployment of our combat brigades.”

Obama also shed more light on the conversation he had with Gen. David Petraeus, who has opposed a timetable for withdrawal. NBC reported that the two men “agreed to disagree” over the issue.

“The issue for Gen. Petraeus — and I want to be careful about characterizing our conversation in detail — but I think his concern has to do with wanting to retain as much flexibility as possible,” Obama told reporters. “So the issue is not a perception that — let me put it this way. The focus of our conversation was not how precipitous my proposal was, because, as he emphasized, he, too, would like to see our troops out, violence reduced, and Iraq a functioning, stable, democratic government that is keeping terrorists out and is functioning as an ally for us in the region.”

Obama continued: “In his role as commander on the ground, not surprisingly, he wants to retain as much flexibility as possible in terms of accomplishing that goal. And what I emphasized to him was, you know, if I was — if I were in his shoes, I’d probably feel the same way. But my job as a candidate for president and a potential commander in chief extends beyond Iraq.”

Obama said he also had to factor in the increased violence in Afghanistan and the perceptions of Iraqis when making a call on a withdrawal.

In a response to Obama’s news conference, the Republican National Committee highlighted the disagreement between Obama and Petraeus.

“Why did Barack Obama go to Iraq? It’s still not clear,” said RNC spokesman Alex Conant. “Obama did not go to take advice from our commanders on the ground