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IRAQ TO ADOPT TIMETABLE FOR U.S. COMBAT FORCES TO LEAVE: Iraq and the U.S. are near an agreement on all American combat troops leaving Iraq by October 2010, with the last soldiers out three years after that, two Iraqi officials told the Associated Press on Thursday. .jpg)
U.S. officials, however, insisted no dates had been agreed. The proposed agreement calls for Americans to hand over parts of Baghdad’s Green Zone - where the U.S. Embassy is located - to the Iraqis by the end of 2008. It would also remove U.S. forces from Iraqi cities by June 30, 2009, according to the two senior officials, both close to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and familiar with the negotiations. The officials, who spoke separately on condition of anonymity because the talks are ongoing, said all U.S. combat troops would leave Iraq by October 2010, with the remaining support personnel gone "around 2013." The schedule could be amended if both sides agree - a face-saving escape clause that would extend the presence of U.S. forces if security conditions warrant it. U.S. acceptance - even tentatively - of a specific timeline would represent a dramatic reversal of American policy in place since the war began in March 2003.
DEM JITTERS ON OBAMA CAMPAIGN: Barack Obama released a television advertisement yesterday that questions John McCain’s claims to be a "maverick," and he charged in a campaign appearance that the Republican displays independence only when it suits him politically (Washington Post). Obama aides said Democratic hand-wringing about polls showing that the presidential race remains tight had nothing to do with the volleys. "We are not going to base our campaign on the concerns of so-called campaign strategists on cable TV," spokesman Bill Burton said. But the ad and the Democrat’s rhetoric in Indiana appeared to up the ante in a campaign that took a distinct turn toward the negative last week. "The price [McCain] paid for his party’s nomination has been to reverse himself on position after position," Obama told a crowd of more than 1,000 at a high school gym in Elkhart. "That doesn’t meet my definition of a maverick. You can’t be a maverick when politically it’s important for you but not a maverick when it doesn’t work for you." The parries come more than a week after his Republican opponent launched a string of increasingly personal attacks on Obama. McCain has said that his rival would lose a war in order to win a campaign, accused him of going to a gym rather than visiting wounded troops, and, while aides asserted that he had "played the race card," hinted that Obama has a messiah complex and portrayed him as a celebrity comparable to Paris Hilton or Britney Spears. That final line of assault continued yesterday with a new McCain ad, again mocking Obama as "the biggest celebrity in the world." Such attacks have raised worries among Democratic strategists — haunted by John F. Kerry’s 2004 run and Al Gore’s razor-thin loss in 2000 — that Obama has not responded in kind with a parallel assault on McCain’s character. Interviews with nearly a dozen Democratic strategists found those concerns to be widespread, although few wished to be quoted by name while Obama’s campaign is demanding unity. "Democrats are worried," said Tad Devine, a top strategist for Kerry who thinks Obama must stay on the high road. "We’ve been through two very tough elections at the national level, and it’s very easy to lose confidence."
OBAMA CAMPAIGN OFFICE MYTH: A visual survey of a majority of the Obama offices around the state reveals that they are nothing more than an assortment of vacant spaces, offices for other candidates, and county party headquarters (Frugal Hoosiers). In other words, the Obama presence in Indiana is a myth, a campaign of smoke and mirrors designed to give the impression that Indiana is up for grabs and Obama is investing millions to win here. In Lake County, for example, the Obama campaign has taken up residence in Congressman Visclosky’s headquarters. In South Bend, Obama is housed in the St. Joe County Democrat headquarters. In New Albany, he’s shacking up with Baron Hill. In Evansville, he’s sharing space with Congressman Ellsworth and Jill Long Thompson. Frugal Hoosiers has posted a photo of an abandoned store front in Muncie. "There have even been rumblings that the Obama campaign had grand openings for these offices but only had them on 10 day leases. It’s a complete sham," Frugal Hoosiers observed. "If you drive past the office here in Muncie , it is a vacant store front. No signs. No staff. No one home."
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