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The Der Spiegel Maliki Interview Transcript

By Big Tent Democrat

The Der Spiegel interview transcript has been released. I found this bit the most interesting:

SPIEGEL: How short-term [a period of continued US troop presence]? Are you hoping for a new [security] agreement before the end of the Bush administration?

Maliki: So far the Americans have had trouble agreeing to a concrete timetable for withdrawal, because they feel it would appear tantamount to an admission of defeat. But that isn't the case at all. If we come to an agreement, it is not evidence of a defeat, but of a victory, of a severe blow we have inflicted on al-Qaida and the militias. The American lead negotiators realize this now, and that's why I expect to see an agreement taking shape even before the end of President Bush's term in office. With these negotiations, we will start the whole thing over again, on a clearer, better basis, because the first proposals were unacceptable to us.

(Emphasis supplied.) Quite an indictment of the Bush Administration. Read the whole thing.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on July 20, 2008 (boomark / email).