Obama is talking about a strike force of thousands of men, neither candidate is talking about removing all Americans. They are talking about combat troops in the streets, etc. That does not mean there will not be any Americans in Iraq.

And according to CNN, Maliki is now saying his meaning was not conveyed accurately. It was a just a short time ago that the BBC misreported what he said with a bad translation, maybe this was something of the same kind of thing.

“As soon as possible.” Sounds like beating feet to me, no?

Then: “Those who operate on the premise of short time periods in Iraq today are being more realistic. The tenure of the coalition troops in Iraq should be limited.”

Notice that, while he did send out a deputy to backtrack a bit, Maliki did not retract any of what he originally said. Furthermore, even if coalition forces get the violence in Iraq down to a manageable level (and it seems they have), McCain has never spoken like someone who expects a “limited” tenure of coalition troops. He wants them there even after violence is manageable. I can understand that from a Liberal interventionit viewpoint, but I don’t think it’s what Maliki’s asking for.

All told, a setback for the McCain team.

It is Saturday, who cares? But really, what a position to be in. Maliki knows that Obama might be the next President. He can not just tell him to go to hell or call him an idiot or whatever. He might have to deal with him. At the same time he can not come out and tell the Iraqi people that he can not provide security for them and so the Americans must stay until whenever. He is stuck in our election.

It’s going to be a cute election season.