The Washington Times published an article on Friday which claims, and provides quite some compelling evidence, that Barack Obama tried to convince Iraqi officials not to agree to any kind of withdrawal deal with President George W. Bush. Obama told representatives of the Iraqi government, several of them told the WaTi, that they should wait until the new president takes office.

As said, I believe that the Washington Times makes quite a compelling case. Even those who are very gracious towards Obama and believe Iraqis misinterpreted his words will have to acknowledge that he, at best, played a very confusing role in the entire affair, and made a complex issue even more complex.