• Erin

  +1

  You'd think the White House would have made a stronger retraction  -- now it's just embarrassing to them and McCain and not at all credible.

  Posted 7/21/2008 respond (flag)

What's Arabic for 'Spin'?
Political Punch — ... continue to support and supporting Iraqi security forces. "Al-Dabbagh underscored that the statements made by the head of the ministerial council (Prime Minister al-Maliki) or any of the members of the Iraqi government should not be understood as support to any U.S. presidential candidates " Neither the Iraqi government nor MNF-I nor CENTCOM explained exactly what had been mistranslated or misunderstood. - jpt UPDATE: I'm told that Arabic for "spin" is "faraa." I'm also told that Der Spiegel bleibt bei seiner Version (Der Spiegel is standing by its story) . July 20, 2008 in ...

Al-Maliki's Moonwalk
Taylor Marsh — ... Well that was quick, just as predictable and screamingly obvious. But "SPIEGEL sticks to its version of the conversation," as they should. ...

How convenient
Rising Hegemon — Boy the American media sure was reluctant to talk about al-Maliki's statement until somehow the "PENTAGON", as opposed the the Iraqi Government, put out a non-denial denial. But, here's the problem (the incredibly milquetoast quality [at best] of American media on "substantive" stuff being OUR problem]... the media of other countries isn't going to bend over backward (or perhaps forward in Liz Sidoti's case) to enable McCain's imbecility. Der Spiegel stands by the Maliki interview. And, since they've put up the entire transcript there is more ...

Political leverage in the 51st state
Ben Smith's Blog — ... 18 hours later, and at 1:30 a.m. Eastern, a little late for Sunday papers; his staff also seems, Spiegel reports, not to have contested Iraqi reporting of the quote, even in the "government-affiliated" Iraqi press. ...

Walking Back, Ctd
The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan — By Patrick Appel Spiegel isn't backing down: The New York Times pointed out that al-Dabbagh's statement "did not address a specific error." CBS likewise expressed disbelief pointing out that Maliki mentions a timeframe for withdrawal three times in the interview and then asks, "how likely is it that SPIEGEL mistranslated three separate comments? Matthew Yglesias, a blogger for the Atlantic Monthly, was astonished by "how little effort was made" to make the Baghdad denial convincing. And the influential ...

Standing Pat
Matthew Yglesias — Der Spiegel stands by its story: Obama is pleased, but McCain certainly is not. In an interview with SPIEGEL, Iraqi Prime Minister al-Maliki expressed support for Obama's troop withdrawal plans. Despite a half-hearted retraction, the comments have stirred up the US presidential campaign. SPIEGEL stands by its version of the conversation. As well they should. They had an on-the-record interview in which Maliki's remarks were not at all ambiguous and during which time he repeatedly returned to the subject of thinking that ...

Quote Of The Day: On Malki’s Being “Misquoted” About Supporting Obama Iraq Pullout Timetable
The Moderate Voice — ... 18 hours later, and at 1:30 a.m. Eastern, a little late for Sunday papers; his staff also seems, Spiegel reports, not to have contested Iraqi reporting of the quote, even in the “government-affiliated” Iraqi press. ...

Nice Try
Talking Points Memo — Der Spiegel is standing by its story, its translation of what Maliki said. And as Ben Smith aptly puts it, "It's almost a convention of politics that when a politician says he was misquoted, but doesn't detail the misquote or offer an alternative, he's really saying he wishes he hadn't said what he did, or that he needs to issue a pro-forma denial to please someone. The Iraqi Prime Minister's vague denial seems to fall in that category. The fact that it arrived to the American press via CENTCOM, seems to support that." Matt Yglesias ...

A tepid walk-back
Jonathan Martin's Blog — ... Der Spiegel, the German magazine which has created a stir by publishing comments by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in which he came out in favor of Obama's proposal to withdraw troops within 16 months, has a follow-up on the tempest with two interesting nuggets. ...

Don't call it a "timeline!"
Jonathan Martin's Blog — ... Via spokesman Scott Stanzel, the new White House language on what the Washington-Baghdad goal is for withdrawing American troops from Iraq: "Joint aspirational time horizons." ...

Maliki, Obama, and the elusive ‘mistranslation’
Political Animal — ... an admission of defeat to them. But that isn’t the case at all.” The new, political response is that Maliki didn’t actually say what he was quoted saying. A statement released by U.S. Central Command on the Maliki government’s behalf suggests Maliki was “misunderstood and mistranslated.” Der Spiegel, the magazine Maliki spoke with, not only released a detailed transcript to bolster its report, but issued another statement today standing by its story. Obama is pleased, but McCain certainly is not. In an ...

McBush Forces al-Maliki To Back Away From His Endorsement Of The Obama Solution?
DownWithTyranny! — ... which words were misunderstood or mistranslated or misquoted or out of context. So, it probably just means that al-Maliki was told that he and his family would be left to the tender mercies of the rebels when the U.S. leaves Iraq if he didn't back off the clear and concise and unambiguous statement he gave. I guess he wished he never said it. But he did. And it's an accurate reflection of the will of the Iraqi people. Der Spiegel laughed at the accusations that their reporting was at fault for the supposed miscommunication. A number of media outlets ...

An Open Can Of Worms
Newshoggers.com — ... 18 hours later, and at 1:30 a.m. Eastern, a little late for Sunday papers; his staff also seems, Der Spiegel reports, not to have contested Iraqi reporting of the quote, even in the "government-affiliated" Iraqi press. ...

An Open Can Of Worms
At-Largely — ... 18 hours later, and at 1:30 a.m. Eastern, a little late for Sunday papers; his staff also seems, Der Spiegel reports, not to have contested Iraqi reporting of the quote, even in the "government-affiliated" Iraqi press. ...

Spiegel Rewrites Interview with Maliki
Patterico's Pontifications — ... Here’s how the exchange reads now: SPIEGEL: Would you hazard a prediction as to when most of the US troops will finally leave Iraq? Maliki: As soon as possible, as far as we’re concerned. 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. There is no explanation of the rewrite. Spiegel says: “SPIEGEL stands by its version of the conversation.” That’s great . . . but which ...

Walkback
Obsidian Wings — ... to have been made after the US contacted the Maliki government. Meanwhile, Der Speigel stands by its story, and says that it will post the full interview in English tomorrow. ...

Links for 2008-07-20 [del.icio.us]
FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog — ... With Caching Europe's governments immune to Obama-fever | U.S. | Reuters When push comes to shove - Where is the beef, Obama? Snubbed by Obama - washingtonpost.com Although Obama portrays himself as the best candidate to engage the rest of the world and restore America's image abroad, and many Americans support him for that reason, so far he has almost completely refused to answer questions from foreign journalists. Maliki's Praise for Obama: Iraqi Leader Stirs up US Campaign - International - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News ...

Obama in Iraq; Der Spiegel Proves al-Maliki Story Correct; Series of Bombings hit Baghdad
Informed Comment — ... The text of Der Spiegel's statement is here. It turns out that the translator involved works for al-Maliki, not for Der Spiegel, and so presumably knew what the prime minister's words meant in Arabic. And for the piece de resistance, it turns out that Der Spiegel has an audiotape of the Arabic of the interview, which they leaked to ...

links for 2008-07-21
FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog — ... (tags: barack_obama 2008) Maliki’s Praise for Obama: Iraqi Leader Stirs up US Campaign - International - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News (tags: barack_obama al-maliki iraq iraqwar) ...

Read These Now or Quotes Will Destroy You
Shakesville — ... sorry for the pain and suffering the victims have endured, and I assure them that, as their pastor, I too share in their suffering." (LA Times) "Today, we in Iraq want to establish a timeframe for the withdrawal of international troops -- and it should be short. At the same time, we would like to see the establishment of a long-term strategic treaty with the United States, which would govern the basic aspects of our economic and cultural relations." (Spiegel)(Spiegel) "It's certainly our intention that we reduce our troop ...

NSN Daily Update: Iraqi Government Again Expresses Desire for Timetable
democracyarsenal.org — ... we think, would be the right timeframe for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes,” Maliki was quoted as saying. “Whoever is thinking about the shorter term is closer to reality. Artificially extending the stay of U.S. troops would cause problems.”  He also added that “The Americans have found it difficult to agree on a concrete timetable for the exit because it seems like an admission of defeat to them. But it isn't.” [Reuters, 7/19/08.  Der Spiegel, 7/20/08] Maliki’s statements affirm that the Iraqis want us to leave, despite ...

7/21: Maliki Madness
Blogometer — ... : Liberal bloggers are also pointing out that Der Spiegel stands by its translation of Maliki's remarks: IRAQ IV: His Words Were Twisted! Most conservative bloggers are taking Maliki's aide at his word when he ...

German press, Iraqis: Bushies can kiss our ass
WTF Is It Now?!? — ... "Obama is pleased, but McCain certainly is not. In an interview, Iraqi Prime Minister al-Maliki expressed support for Obama's troop withdrawal plans. Despite a half-hearted retraction, the comments have stirred up the US presidential campaign. Spiegel stands by its version of the conversation." ...

Republican Operative on Maliki’s statement: “We’re f*&ked”
Crooks and Liars — ... at this point means nothing. Obviously, our national interests aren’t equivalent to Iraq’s, but… Malik isn’t listening to the generals on the ground…but the “hasn’t been to Iraq” line doesn’t work here. Soon after, Maliki tried to clarify—errr—or verify his remarks. I bet the video conference machine was pretty busy over the weekend. So we get the Maliki Walkback, sort of…But Spiegel stands by its comments… Obama is pleased, but McCain certainly is not. ...