For Obama, a first step is not a misstep

By Richark A. Oppel Jr. and Jeff Zeleny

BAGHDAD - The Iraqi government on Monday left little doubt that it favors a withdrawal plan for American combat troops similar to what Senator Barack Obama has proposed, providing Mr. Obama with a potentially powerful political boost on a day he spent in Iraq working to fortify his credibility as a wartime leader.

After a day spent meeting Iraqi leaders and American military commanders, Mr. Obama seemed to have navigated one of the riskiest parts of a weeklong international trip without a noticeable hitch and to have gained a new opportunity to blunt attacks on his national security credentials by his Republican rival in the presidential race, Senator John McCain.

Whether by chance or by design, the government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki of Iraq chose a day when Mr. Obama was in the country to provide its clearest statement yet about its views on the withdrawal of American troops.

After a weekend of dispute about precisely what Mr. Maliki was suggesting, his spokesman, Ali al-Dabbagh, told reporters in Baghdad, "We cannot give any timetables or dates, but the Iraqi government believes the end of 2010 is the appropriate time for the withdrawal."

Mr. Obama has said he would seek to withdraw American combat forces over 16 months if he is elected president, starting upon taking office in January, meaning his plan would be completed on roughly the same timetable as suggested by the Iraqis.

The Bush administration has signaled a willingness to work with the Iraqis on their desire to begin setting at least a general "time horizon" for reducing the American military presence, leaving Mr. McCain at risk of becoming isolated in his position of firm opposition to a withdrawal timetable.

The central tenet of Mr. Obama's foreign policy is suddenly aligned with what the Iraqis themselves now increasingly seem to want. Not only have the developments offered Mr. Obama a measure of credibility as a prospective world leader in a week when his every move is receiving intensive attention at home and abroad, but it has complicated Mr. McCain's leading argument against him: that a withdrawal timeline would be tantamount to surrender and would leave Iraqis in dangerous straits.

Mr. McCain is hardly conceding the point. He continued to hammer away at Mr. Obama's judgment on national security, saying on Monday that Mr. Obama had gotten it badly wrong when he opposed sending additional American troops last year to help stabilize Iraq.

Republicans said Iraq would never have reached the point where it could reasonably call for a reduction in the American presence without the troop increase, a policy championed by Mr. McCain over the objections of Mr. Obama and most other Democrats.

"The fact is, if we had done what Senator Obama wanted to do, we would have lost," Mr. McCain told reporters in Kennebunkport, Me. "And we would have faced a wider war. And we would have had greater problems in Afghanistan and the entire region. And Iran would have increased their influence."

American military commanders have also expressed qualms about setting a specific timetable for withdrawal, suggesting that to do so could risk reversing the progress made in Iraq since the United States increased its troop presence last year. On Sunday, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Adm. Michael Mullen, told Fox News that the consequences of setting a two-year timeline for removing American combat troops "could be very dangerous."

For a day, at least, the images of the two presidential candidates offered a sharp contrast. In an interview on "Good Morning America" on ABC, Mr. McCain talked about securing the "Iraq-Pakistan border," a momentary misstatement of geography. (American forces are pursuing terrorists along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border; Iraq does not border Pakistan.) His aides staged an event where he was seen riding in a golf cart in Maine with the first President George Bush, while Mr. Obama flew over Iraq in a helicopter with Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top American military commander.

During his visit to Iraq, Mr. Obama said it was important that the Iraqi government take charge of its own affairs.

"I think it is very important we build on this progress and recognize Iraqi sovereignty," he said shortly after meeting with Mr. Maliki and as he was starting a meeting with one of Iraq's vice presidents, Tariq al-Hashimi, a Sunni.

The talk of a strict timetable appeared to worry Mr. Hashimi. Sunni Muslims fear that a rapid withdrawal would leave them vulnerable to Shiite Muslim efforts to further diminish their power. Rather, he said the emphasis should be on the Iraqi army's readiness.

The comments on troop withdrawal came after a weekend of controversy between the United States and Iraqi governments over a German news report that Mr. Maliki had expressed support for Mr. Obama's proposal to withdraw American combat troops within 16 months of January. On Friday, President Bush agreed to a "general time horizon" for pulling out troops without mentioning any dates.

Mr. Obama, on the latest leg of his first overseas tour as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, arrived in the Iraqi capital in the early afternoon after first stopping in the southern Iraqi city of Basra. General Petraeus met briefly with Mr. Obama when he arrived at the Baghdad airport, and they flew by helicopter to the Green Zone, where the American Embassy and many Iraqi government offices are situated, an American military official said.

Mr. Obama met with Mr. Maliki; President Jalal Talabani; Mowaffak al-Rubaie, the Iraqi national security adviser; and other Iraqi officials at the prime minister's residence in the Green Zone.

He and the two senators traveling with him, Chuck Hagel, Republican of Nebraska, and Jack Reed, Democrat of Rhode Island, had dinner with General Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker.

In an interview with ABC News on Monday in Baghdad, Mr. Obama said he would not be locked into a false choice between a rigid timetable for withdrawal that ignored changing conditions in Iraq and "completely deferring" to the recommendations of military commanders.

He said his conversation with General Petraeus and Mr. Crocker focused on "what's adequate for our security interests, factoring in the fact that not only do we have Afghanistan, which I believe is the central front on terror, but also the fact that if we're spending $10 billion a month over the next two, four, five years, then that's $10 billion a month that we're not using to rebuild the United States or drawing down our national debt or making sure that families have health care."

Before meeting with Mr. Hashimi, Mr. Obama said he was "pleased with the progress taking place" and said it was his impression that among Iraqis there was "more optimism about what is happening."

He spoke of more "activity taking place, the people in the shops, the traffic on the streets" and said, "Clearly, there's been an enormous improvement."

Mr. Obama's trip is cloaked in secrecy and high security, and aides have also worked to avoid images like the one that caused a headache for Mr. McCain in a visit to Iraq, when he suggested that safety had improved as he walked through a market that was heavily protected by military personnel.