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JEFFERSON CITY, Missouri (CNN) -- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin on Friday said Sen. Barack Obama put "ambition above country" after a newspaper reported that Obama may have tried to influence Iraqi politicians negotiating with the United States. The Washington Times, a conservative newspaper, reported Friday that Obama told Iraqi leaders in Baghdad in June that an agreement between the United States and the leaders to allow U.S. troops to stay in the country after 2008 should not go into effect unless it had congressional approval.

In private conversations on troop presence, candidate pitched delay Barbara Slavin Friday, October 10, 2008 At the same time the Bush administration was negotiating a still elusive agreement to keep the U.S. military in Iraq, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama tried to convince Iraqi leaders in private conversations that the president shouldn't be allowed to enact the deal without congressional approval. Mr. Obama's conversations with the Iraqi leaders, confirmed to The Washington Times by his campaign aides, began just two weeks after he clinched the Democratic presidential nomination in June and stirred controversy over the appropriateness of a White House...

WASH TIMES Friday: Obama secretly tried to sway Iraqi government to ignore Bush deal on keeping troops in Iraq... Developing...

Earlier this week, I wrote about the dirty tricks campaign against journalist Amir Taheri following his revelation that, in a private meeting in Iraq last July with Iraqi leaders, Barack Obama tried to persuade them to delay the agreement being hammered out with the US government on a draw-down of the American military presence. According to this account, which quoted Iraq’s foreign minister Hoshya Zebari (pictured), Obama had thus privately sought to undermine an American government foreign policy initiative – an explosive revelation. Taheri subsequently dismissed as tendentious Camp Obama’s response which he said deliberately confused two separate agreements under...

Many analysts believe that the US draw down in Iraq is damaging to Obama’s electoral chances. And now information is emerging that Obama acted to keep troops deployed. In a September 15 New York Post editorial, CNN and BBC contributor Amir Taheri writes that, according to Iraq’s Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, Senator Obama in June told visiting Iraqi officials that President Bush’s government was in a ‘”state of weakness and political confusion’” so the negotiations should be postponed until after the election.

Yet more disturbing evidence of Barack Obama’s patent unsuitability for high office has dropped like a stone having briefly surfaced in the mainstream media. Last Monday, Amir Taheri reported in the New York Post that, while campaigning in public for a speedy withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, Obama tried in private to persuade Iraqi leaders to delay an agreement on a draw-down of the American military presence. This meant a number of things. First, the delay would keep US troops in Iraq until after the 2010 deadline for withdrawal proposed by Obama himself – thus showing, said Taheri, that...

Democratic presidential nominee, Senator Barack Obama (Ill) denied he did anything wrong in his negotiations with Iraq in July. “The assertion that I asked for a delay in troop withdrawals is a lie,” Obama complained. “I merely suggested that such a decision be deferred until I take office in January.” Obama also took issue with the claim that his actions violated the Logan Act (a law barring private citizens from negotiating with foreign governments on matters of state). “I am not a private citizen,” Obama said. “I am a US Senator and the next president of the United States. By...

Earlier this week, the campaign of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., seized upon a column in the New York Post that described Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., as having urged Iraqi leaders in a private meeting to delay coming to an agreement with the Bush administration on the status of U.S. troops. "Obama has tried in private to persuade Iraqi leaders to delay an agreement on a drawdown of the American military presence," Post columnist Amir Taheri wrote, quoting Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, who told the Post that Obama, during his meeting with Iraqi leaders in July, "asked why we were...

I previously noted that Obama may have violated the Logan Act by trying to persuade Iraqi leaders to delay the withdrawal of US troops until after Bush had left office. In purporting to refute the charge, the Obama camp actually confirmed it by issuing a statement acknowledging that Obama had in fact asked the Iraqi leadership to not "rush through" a withdrawal until Bush left office. Well, now it appears there is additional confirmation of Obama's illegal actions.

What happens when Democrats get their wires crossed? What happens when drivel like “Change you can believe in” collides with such malarkey as “our commitment to the Rule of Law”? Fraud happens. The etymology, by the way, traces to the Latin word fraus - which the Obama campaign might bear in mind if it’s planning to whip up any more of those mock presidential seals. Or, for that matter, mock presidential addresses. Sen. Barack Obama has just bestowed another of these upon us: a two-minute political ad on a Wall Street upheaval so sudden the campaign didn’t have time to...

"Since they dared, I too will dare. The truth I will say, because I promised to say it; if justice, regularly seized, did not do it, full and whole." J'Accuse...! Emile Zola We asked: Will the most damaging Obama scandal of them all be buried alive? And from the entire mainstream media we received our unequivocal answer: Yes. Did Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama attempt to dally in U.S. foreign and military policy during his first trip to Iraq in July? According to Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari in Amir Taheri’s op-ed in Monday’s New York Post, Obama used...

"...Two officials of the Bush administration say that if Obama had done what the Post story asserted – which they believe to be untrue – U.S. Ambassador Crocker and embassy officials attending the meeting would have ensured that the Bush administration heard about it immediately. If such an incident occurred in front of officials of the Bush administration, it would have constituted a foreign policy breach and would have been front-page huge news; it would not have leaked out two months later in an op-ed column..."

On Monday, in an opinion piece published in the New York Post, I suggested that Senator Barack Obama had urged Iraqi leaders to postpone making an agreement with the United States until there was a new administration in Washington. I said this because Obama himself had said it.

On Monday, in an opinion piece published in the New York Post, I suggested that Senator Barack Obama had urged Iraqi leaders to postpone making an agreement with the United States until there was a new administration in Washington. I said this because Obama himself had said it. By trying to second-guess the present administration in its negotiations with Iraq, Obama ignored a golden rule of American politics. I first learned about that rule from Senator Edward Kennedy more than 30 years ago. During a visit to Tehran, Kennedy received a few Iranian reporters for a poolside chat. The big...

A note from Radarsite: The following is a comment received on our Obama in Iraq Scandal article. There is, I believe, no need for further comment. - rg ---------------------------------------------------------------- I don't understand. I don't understand why no one is holding Sen. Obama accountable. My brother has been in Iraq for 17 months. 17 months he hasn't seen his 2 little girls, his wife, or any of the rest of us (his family). And no one cares that Sen Obama decided to use my brother and others like him in Iraq for some kind of political game. No one gives...

Story growing legs? I'm surprised it's being folowed up on.

Up to this point, I just shook my head when Obama or his wifey said something disparaging about America. Until now, his comments have just been sad examples of how distorted his view of our country really is. But now, news has broken that he has gone beyond “just words.” I beleive Obama has committed treason. A news story recently claimed that Obama, in a visit with Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebrai, Obama tried to persuade Iraqi leaders to delay US troop withdrawals, until after the election.

The Obama Camp Confirms Treason and Logan Act Violations Cross posted from Snooper's Take Our Country Back ~Snooper~ Wednesday, September 17, 2008 In a previous post entitled, I'll Take "What Is Treason" For The Presidency Alex, located here, I brought to your attention Czarbie's duplicity and complicity in undermining a sitting United States President, General David Petraeus and our Troops. This is just one more incident and example in a long list of treasonous activity perpetrated by Democrat Party Leadership in their quest for dominance, power and control - at any cost. Yet, this isn't the end of the...

IN Monday's Post, I discussed how Barack Obama, during his July trip, had asked Iraqi leaders not to finalize an agreement vital to the future of US forces in Iraq - and how the effect of such a delay would be to postpone the departure of the US from Iraq beyond the time Obama himself calls for. The Obama campaign has objected. While its statement says my article was "filled with distortions," the rebuttal actually centers on a technical point: the differences between two Iraqi-US accords under negotiation - the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA, to set rules governing US...

The Obama campaign spent more than five hours on Monday attempting to figure out the best refutation of the explosive New York Post report that quoted Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari as saying that Barack Obama during his July visit to Baghdad demanded that Iraq not negotiate with the Bush Administration on the withdrawal of American troops. Instead, he asked that they delay such negotiations until after the presidential handover at the end of January. The three problems, according to campaign sources: The report was true, there were at least three other people in the room with Obama and Zebari...

The Obama campaign spent more than five hours on Monday attempting to figure out the best refutation of the explosive New York Post report that quoted Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari as saying that Barack Obama during his July visit to Baghdad demanded that Iraq not negotiate with the Bush Administration on the withdrawal of American troops. Instead, he asked that they delay such negotiations until after the presidential handover at the end of January. The three problems, according to campaign sources: The report was true, there were at least three other people in the room with Obama and Zebari...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Yesterday Amir Taheri in the New York Post quoted the Iraqi foreign minister Hoshyar Zebari as saying that Obama made the demand when he visited Baghdad in July that (paraphrasing) "You guys shouldn't start talking about troop withdrawal now, you should wait 'til the next president's elected." The quote here from the Iraqi foreign minister, "He asked why we were not prepared to delay an agreement on US troop withdrawal until after the US elections and the formation of a new administration in Washington. However, as an Iraqi, I prefer to have a security agreement that regulates...

The Obama campaign issued an angry denial to a report yesterday that the Democratic presidential candidate privately urged Iraqi leaders to delay U.S. troop withdrawals, but the statement essentially confirmed the story. Responding to a column by Iranian-born analyst Amir Taheri in the New York Post, Obama spokeswoman Wendy Morigi insisted Obama "has never urged a delay in negotiations, nor has he urged a delay in immediately beginning a responsible drawdown of our combat brigades." But in the same statement, Morigi said Obama had told the Iraqis they should not rush through a "Strategic Framework Agreement" governing the future of...

Monday’s New York Post included a revealing column by Amir Taheri, a respected commentator on the Middle East. The piece, bolstered by firsthand reporting, provided a troubling glimpse into Senator Barack Obama’s trip to Iraq in July. According to Taheri, Sen. Obama used the trip to press Iraqi leaders to delay negotiations with a “weak” and “politically confused” Bush administration. Calling the U.S. presence in Iraq “illegal,” Sen. Obama also tried to press General Petraeus & Co. for a realistic withdrawal date, to no avail. Taheri’s column comports with second-hand reports I’ve received from those with access to top U.S....

Here is an excerpt from Susan Duclos' 15 September blockbuster article on Obama's attempted manipulation of GIs troop withdrawals from Iraq for his own political purposes. Iraqi government sources have revealed to the New York Post that Presidential candidate Barack Obama demanded Iraqi officials stop negotiations with the Bush Administration to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq. Fearful that the success in Iraq would harm his political aspirations, Obama sought to keep U.S. troops in Iraq so he can continue attacking the Bush Administration for not imposing a timetable for withdrawal.And from the New York Post Maliki's advisers have persuaded him...

Barack Obama was telling Iraqis to keep the number of American troops at current levels, while pressuring American officers for a withdrawal date and telling the far left anti-war base of his supporters that he was pledged to a nearly unconditional withdrawal. Did he attempt to undermine the foreign policy of a sitting president to shore up his own political base?...

PUEBLO, Colorado (AFP) — Barack Obama's White House campaign angrily denied Monday a report that he had secretly urged the Iraqis to postpone a deal to withdraw US troops until after November's election. In the New York Post, conservative Iranian-born columnist Amir Taheri quoted Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari as saying the Democrat made the demand when he visited Baghdad in July, while publicly demanding an early withdrawal. "He asked why we were not prepared to delay an agreement until after the US elections and the formation of a new administration in Washington," Zebari said in an interview, according to...

Yesterday, the New York Post reported: While campaigning in public for a speedy withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, Sen. Barack Obama has tried in private to persuade Iraqi leaders to delay an agreement on a draw-down of the American military presence. If true, Obama's behavior constitutes a clear violation of U.S. law. In particular, the Logan Act, 18 U.S.C. § 953, provides in relevant part: Any citizen of the United States, wherever he may be, who, without authority of the United States, directly or indirectly commences or carries on any correspondence or intercourse with any foreign government or any...

Glenn Reynolds takes a close look at Barack Obama’s response to Amir Taheri and doesn’t see any daylight between them. Yesterday, Taheri accused Obama of attempting to derail a status-of-forces agreement between the US and Iraq by telling the Iraqis to wait until after the American elections and stop negotiating with the Bush administration. Obama responded by essentially confirming Taheri’s account:

JONAH GOLDBERG ARTICLE ABOUT BARACK OBAMA AND IRAQ DISCUSSIONS Senator McGovern's reports of his discussions with Cuban officials states: "I had made it clear that I had no authority to negotiate on behalf of the United States - that I had come to listen and learn..." (Cuban Realities: May, 1975, 94th Congress, 1st Session, August, 1975)

FLINT, Mich. -- Obama reiterated his commitment to withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq during a telephone conversation this morning with the country's foreign minister, he told reporters in a 10-minute press conference on the tarmac here. ... He said he told Zebari that negotiations for a Status of Forces agreement or strategic framework agreement between the two countries should be done in the open and with Congress's authorization and that it was important that that there be strong bipartisan support for any agreement so that it can be sustained through a future administration. He argued it would make sense to...

McCain Responds to Obama's Reported Undermining of the Commander-In-Chief During Wartime [Andy McCarthy] The McCain Campaign has issued a statement responding to the report from Amer Taheri (see today's web briefing) that Sen. Obama secretly negotiated with the Iraqi government regarding U.S. withdrawal from Iraq. McCain spokesman Randy Scheunemann stated as follows: At this point, it is not yet clear what official American negotiations Senator Obama tried to undermine with Iraqi leaders, but the possibility of such actions is unprecedented. It should be concerning to all that he reportedly urged that the democratically-elected Iraqi government listen to him rather than...

<p>FLINT, Mich. – Senator Barack Obama said today he intends to visit Iraq and Afghanistan before the November election.</p> <p>Mr. Obama, who spoke to the Iraqi foreign minister by telephone this morning, said he was “encouraged” by the reductions in violence in Iraq. But he said the United States still must begin gradually withdrawing troops, at a pace of one to two brigades a month, with a goal of removing most combat troops in 16 months.</p>

Amir Taheri: WHILE campaigning in public for a speedy withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, Sen. Barack Obama has tried in private to persuade Iraqi leaders to delay an agreement on a draw-down of the American military presence. According to Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, Obama made his demand for delay a key theme of his discussions with Iraqi leaders in Baghdad in July. "He asked why we were not prepared to delay an agreement until after the US elections and the formation of a new administration in Washington," Zebari said in an interview. Obama insisted that Congress should be...

The New York Post has Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, on record, stating Barack Obama tried to interfere with ongoing negotiations with Iraqi leaders while on his trip to Iraq recently. While telling his supporters his plan to withdraw troops from Iraq within 16 months, Barack Obama was doing something far different while he was in Iraq. He was trying to talk Iraqi officials into delaying the agreement on a draw-down of the American military presence from Iraq, Zebari said in an interview with The New York Post. According to Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, Obama made his demand for...

WHILE campaigning in public for a speedy withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, Sen. Barack Obama has tried in private to persuade Iraqi leaders to delay an agreement on a draw-down of the American military presence. According to Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, Obama made his demand for delay a key theme of his discussions with Iraqi leaders in Baghdad in July. "He asked why we were not prepared to delay an agreement until after the US elections and the formation of a new administration in Washington," Zebari said in an interview. Obama insisted that Congress should be involved in...

Starting at 2:39, on youtube clip of ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos, August 31, 2008:On Governer Sarah Palin: KERRY: ...You know, she may be — I mean, I’m sure she’s a terrific person. I’m not attacking her. I think John McCain’s judgment is once again put at issue, because he’s chosen somebody who clearly does not meet the national security threshold, who is not ready to be president tomorrow. And there’s just no way to...STEPHANOPOULOS: You heard Senator Graham, though. He said that she has more experience than Senator Obama.KERRY: That’s just ridiculous on its face. I mean, John...

At the Democratic presidential nominating convention in Denver last week, Richard Danzig, a top national-security adviser to Barack Obama, seemed to be everywhere. The former Navy secretary reassured visiting diplomats, rapped with security experts and made the case that Obama's foreign policy is more complex than his detractors have made it out to be. He chatted with NEWSWEEK's Adam B. Kushner at a hotel near Invesco Field, where Obama accepted the Democratic nod Thursday night. Excerpts: Kushner: You were on Obama ' s first world tour. Why do you think that, except for the rules of diplomatic protocol, Obama was...

To counter opponents’ accusations that he lacks experience in foreign policy, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois often cites his ties to relatives in poor villages in Kenya and the years he spent growing up in Indonesia. Now he has added a new personal detail to that résumé: a trip to Pakistan while a college student.

When I was in junior high school, my bedroom wall was decorated with political memorabilia - campaign posters, bumper stickers and “parchment” copies of political speeches. Among the speeches were some gems from John F. Kennedy. President Kennedy had wonderful speechwriters, and his addresses are filled with memorable quotes. But my all-time favorite Kennedy line is the ambiguous conclusion of a speech he gave in West Berlin in June of 1963. Kennedy, trying to express his solidarity with the people of Berlin, concluded with the words, “Ich bin ein Berliner.” Now this can mean one of two things, either “I...

Rudy Giuliani headed today’s Team McCain conference call, discussing the trip taken by Barack Obama adviser David Kurtzer to Syria in July. Giuliani, the recent selection for the GOP convention’s keynote speaker, took the opportunity to reassert himself on national security and foreign policy. Michael Goldfarb and Randy Scheuneman also took part in the call. Mayor Giuliani told the conference that the fact that the trip was not disclosed at the time shows Obama’s inexperience and irresponsibility on foreign policy. Giuliani pointed out that Obama included Assad on his list of world leaders he would meet without preconditions. He says...

Senator Obama went to Berlin and told a crowd of 200,000 Europeans that he was speaking to them not as a candidate for President of the United States, but as “a fellow citizen of the world.” He then proceeded to insult the memories of any German over age 30 and the intelligence of every American who remembers what the Berlin Wall was all about. In Berlin, Obama credited the “people of the world” for bringing down the Berlin Wall. That will be surprising news to the people of Mexico, Switzerland and dozens of other nations who not only sat out...

Unless you've been imbibing 100-proof hope-and-change, you could hardly listen to President — er, make that, Candidate — Obama's Berlin speech without questioning whether there is anything that he is truly willing to fight for. Not merely fighting metaphorically or deploying persuasive prose, but actually committing American lives to defend a principle that must not be compromised. When Obama's campaign appropriated Brandenburg Gate as the backdrop for his "citizen of the world" speech, his handlers certainly expected the venue to frame him in a distinctly presidential stature. Instead, the staging created an unmistakable contrast between courageous presidents who faced down...

Senator Obama went to Berlin and told a crowd of 200,000 Europeans that he was speaking to them not as a candidate for President of the United States, but as “a fellow citizen of the world.” He then proceeded to insult the memories of any German over age 30 and the intelligence of every American who remembers what the Berlin Wall was all about. In Berlin, Obama credited the “people of the world” for bringing down the Berlin Wall. That will be surprising news to the people of Mexico, Switzerland and dozens of other nations who not only sat out...

It's true that enthusiasm for Barack Obama around the world is sky-high. Furthermore, the trip did little to assuage many voters' concerns about Obama's lack of foreign policy experience, an issue that McCain holds a 15-point advantage in among voters. Obama's popularity in the Islamic world has also earned him some dubious admirers that the McCain camp has been eager to point out. In April, Ahmed Yousuf, political advisor to Hamas said in an interview that, "actually we like Mr. Obama. We hope he will (win) the election and I do believe he is like John Kennedy, great man with...

It is clear that this US presidential election has brought to the surface a bunch of lingering issues inside the country: racial, class and gender stresses. Even more starkly it has rekindled emotions outside the US, affecting how the world views America, from presumably allied countries in Europe to the developing world and, especially the Muslim world. It is amazing how quickly the mind gets cleared of American TV and internet chatter after a business trip to Europe with an added leg in the Middle East. For starters, we may be complaining about the cost of everything in the US,...

I’ll say this much for the Obamas: No one has more interesting political conversations with second-graders than they do. Something for everyone here — for the righties, some easy snark that the correct way to proceed in Iraq is obvious even to grade-school kids; for the lefties, some even easier snark that it takes someone with the mindset of a grade-school kid to think this is the correct way to proceed; and for the nonpolitical among us, a warm and fuzzy moment at the end. A good time was had by all. Video at link

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has seen his lead in Massachusetts and across the nation slip precipitously over the past few months, especially with older, more experienced, voters. In June, Obama was ahead of Republican candidate John McCain by 23 percentage points, but this summer, Obama has been virtually bleeding support in the Bay State. He now leads McCain by only 9 percentage points here. Nationally, Obama's lead varies on an almost daily basis. In recent days, he has been tied with McCain, ahead by 3 points and ahead by 1 point. The fluctuating numbers come on the heels of...

It’s one thing to point out what our country could do to become superior to its former self, but quite another to preface such counsel with the implication that it’s inferior to every other nation. If Barack Obama sought to win the votes of Germans, he need seek no more. Of course, his new image was all the rage in the Old World long before he gave his July 24 speech in Berlin. Along with the mainstream media and murderer Dale Leo Bishop, Senator Sweetness and Light is the man the Europeans want as our leader. Although Obama certainly has...

Only this time, Barack Obama will be a little less subtle about his purposes. On the second day of the Republican Convention, Obama will do some low-key fundraising … among Hollywood heavyweights … in Geneva, Switzerland. George Clooney will arrange for a $1,000 a plate reception, but that’s just the appetizer: Academy award winning actor George Clooney is set to host a fundraiser for Barack Obama in Switzerland next month. The event, taking place on the evening of September 2 in Geneva, Switzerland will be split into two parts: a reception and a dinner. According to Obama’s National Finance Committee,...