Iraqi government offers Obama hints of backing on combat troop withdrawals by 2010

Iraq's top leaders hosted U.S. presidential contender Barack Obama on Monday and offered an apparent sign of shared purpose on hopes of withdrawing American combat troops from the country by 2010.

The comments by Iraq's government spokesman — as the Illinois senator toured Iraq for the first time in more than two years — stopped short of setting any fixed timetable or any open endorsement of Obama's pledge to pull out combat forces in 16 months.

But it roughly mirrors Obama's schedule and offered another glimpse of Iraq's growing confidence to push for a broad framework on cutting U.S. troop levels as violence in Iraq drops and Iraqi security forces expand their roles.

"We are hoping that in 2010 that combat troops will withdraw from Iraq," spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said after Obama met with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki — who has struggled for days to clarify Iraq's position on a possible timetable for a U.S. troop pullout.

Iraq's Sunni vice president, Tariq al-Hashemi, said after meeting Obama that Iraqi leaders share "a common interest ... to schedule the withdrawal of American troops."

"I'd be happy if we reach an agreement to say, for instance, the 31st of December 2010" would mark the departure of the last U.S. combat unit, he said — then noting that any such goal could be revised depending on threats and the pace of training for Iraqi security forces.

In Washington, White House press secretary Dana Perino said Iraqis are driving harder in negotiations on troop levels, but the United States will resist any "arbitrary" timing.

"It will not be a date that you just pluck out of thin air. It will not be something that Americans say, 'We're going to do — we're going to leave at this date,' which is what some have suggested," she said.

The Bush administration has refused to set specific troop level targets, but last week offered to discuss a "general time horizon" for a U.S. combat troop exit.

Perino acknowledged the Iraqis might be trying to use the U.S. presidential election for leverage in negotiations over the future of the American military mission in Iraq.

"I think that a lot of other people look through the lens of a 2008 presidential election," Perino said. "Might they be? Sure. I mean, it's possible."

Obama made no detailed statements on his meetings, which included Iraqi President Jalal Talabani.

"Excellent conversation," he said as he left talks with al-Hashemi in his gold-hued reception room and promised to give his full impressions after his stop in Iraq wraps up Tuesday and he heads to Jordan and then Israel.

"Very constructive," Obama added after leaving a meeting with al-Maliki — who was quoted last week by a German magazine apparently supporting Obama's 16-month withdrawal proposal. The government claimed his remarks were misunderstood.

It was the third leg of Obama's tour of the region, which has included stops in Kuwait and Afghanistan.

The counterpoint was clear: Obama opposed the Iraq war from the start and views the battle against the resurgent Taliban and al-Qaida in Afghanistan as America's most critical fight.

But Iraq is not the same place as when Obama last visited in January 2006.

Both Sunni insurgents, including al-Qaida in Iraq, and Shiite militias have suffered significant blows. And security forces in Baghdad — once the scene of near daily car bombs and sectarian killings — has made clear gains since last year's troop build up of nearly 30,000 soldiers.

Obama's challenger, Senator John McCain, has tried to hammer Obama on his critical remarks before the so-called "surge."

In an interview Monday on ABC's "Good Morning America," McCain said he hoped Obama would now "have the opportunity to see the success of the surge."

"This is the same strategy that he voted against, railed against," McCain said. "He was wrong about the surge. It is succeeding and we are winning."

All five surge brigades have left Iraq, but there are still about 147,000 U.S. soldiers in Iraq, more than in early 2007.

Obama was scheduled to hold briefings with senior American diplomats and military commanders, including Gen. David Petraeus, who directs U.S. forces in Iraq.

Obama — traveling in a congressional delegation with senators Jack Reed, a Democrat from Rhode Island, and Chuck Hagel, a Republican from Nebraska — first arrived in the city of Basra in Iraq's mostly Shiite south.

Basra is the center for about 4,000 British troops involved mostly in training Iraqi forces. An Iraqi-led offensive begun in March reclaimed control of most of the city from Shiite militia believed linked to Iran.

In Baghdad, the delegation traveled in convoys of black SUVs with tinted windows. Obama attended some meeting wearing a dark suit and tie despite temperatures well above 43 degrees Celsius (109 Fahrenheit).

Security around the city was not noticeably tightened, but it's difficult to gauge in a place with permanent checkpoints, concrete blast walls and military helicopter surveillance. No major attacks were reported around the capital.

Obama's foreign stops, which will conclude with a swing through Europe, were seen as an attempt to burnish his foreign policy credentials and address challenges by McCain that he is too inexperienced to lead in a time of war and global risks.

It also gave Obama a taste of some of the difficulties in Iraq that the next president will inherit. Important negotiations on a pact defining the future U.S. military commitment in Iraq has been stalled.

American diplomats hoped to reach a final accord by the end of the month, but it now seems the goal is a stopgap "bridge" document that would maintain the status for U.S. forces once a U.N. mandate on their presence expires at the end of the year.

There also are pockets of concern around the country.

Bombings and slayings have been creeping higher in the northern city of Mosul, the last main urban stronghold for al-Qaida in Iraq. Insurgents also remain entrenched in the Diyala Province northeast of Baghdad and a main gateway to the city. Iraqi authorities have announced plans to send more forces into the area.