White House irked by Iraq support for Obama plan

WASHINGTON — The White House expressed unhappiness Monday about Iraqi leaders' public backing for Barack Obama's troop withdrawal timetable. And it said that Baghdad may be trying to use the U.S. presidential election as leverage in talks about the future of American's military presence and obligations in the war.

Washington and Baghdad probably will miss a July 31 target for reaching an agreement, said White House press secretary Dana Perino, characterizing the negotiations as "hard-driving."

"We don't think that talking about specific negotiating tactics or your negotiating position in the press is the best way to negotiate a deal," Perino said after Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was quoted in a magazine article supporting the 16-month troop withdrawal timeline proposed by Obama, the Democratic presidential candidate. "However, we understand that they're a sovereign country and they'll be able to do that," Perino said. "We're just not going to do it on our end."

Al-Maliki's spokesman, Ali al-Dabbagh, initially appeared to try to discredit the magazine report but on Monday he expressed hopes that U.S. combat forces could be out of Iraq by 2010, the timeframe proposed by Obama. Buoyed by a sharp reduction in violence, Iraqi leaders have become more assertive about the country's sovereignty, giving rise to demands for a specific plan for American forces to leave..........