No Mistranslation In Maliki Interview: He Endorsed Obama

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No mistranslation in Maliki interview

It was the shot heard 'round the world: in an interview with German magazine Der Spiegel, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said of U.S. troop withdrawal from his country, "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."

Almost immediately, the Iraqi and U.S. governments made half-hearted attempts to walk Maliki's statement back. And supporters of the war have claimed that Maliki's words were mistranslated. But the Columbia Journalism Review has a bit of detail that should quiet such claims, at least to the extent that they haven't been quieted by events since Maliki's statement that have made clear he meant what he said. The White House has translated differently.
http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2008/07/22/maliki_spiegel/index.html

[TexasObserver]

1. Now the RW pundits are blistering Maliki for it!!

How dare he use the presidential election to try to force George Bush to make concessions! Or so they say!

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2. American M$M twists the true meaning of the statement...