Obama timeline doable, Iraqi says

AUSTIN, Texas | Sen. Barack Obama’s first journey to Afghanistan was highlighted Saturday by a key Iraqi leader endorsing the Illinois Democrat’s timeline for U.S. troop withdrawal.

The visit - kept secret until Mr. Obama arrived in the war zone - kicked off his tour of the Middle East and Europe and signified the balance he must strike between policy meetings with world leaders and building international support through his popularity.

“I’m more interested in listening than doing a lot of talking,” the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee said as he left Washington.

The Obama campaign described his weeklong trip as a “full agenda with key leaders” and said his goal was to “deepen even further foreign relationships” and talk about “enhanced cooperation” with U.S. allies to tackle global problems such as climate change and nuclear proliferation.

The overseas trip was boosted Saturday when Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told German magazine Der Spiegel he agrees with Mr. Obama’s plan to pull out combat troops within 16 months.

“U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama talks about 16 months. That, we think, would be the right time frame for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes,” Mr. al-Maliki said.

Mr. Obama is expected to travel to Iraq and meet with the Iraqi leader during his trip, details of which have been kept private for security reasons.

The Illinois senator visited troops in Kuwait on Friday and was in Afghanistan on Saturday. He recently said the United States should send more troops to Afghanistan.

He traveled with an adviser from his Senate office who served in Iraq as a naval reservist and Sens. Jack Reed, Rhode Island Democrat, and Chuck Hagel, Nebraska Republican.

Mr. Obama was asked what he hoped to learn from the trip, which was paid for in part by taxpayer dollars since it is a congressional delegation.

“I’m looking forward to seeing what the situation on the ground is,” he said. “I want to, obviously, talk to the commanders and get a sense, both in Afghanistan and in Baghdad of, you know, what their biggest concerns are. And I want to thank our troops for the heroic work that they’ve been doing.”

Mr. Obama visited with soldiers at Jalalabad airfield, in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province. The delegation also met with top military leaders and troops at Bagram Air Base, the main U.S. military base in the country, according to a U.S. military officer who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

It was his first visit to Afghanistan and occurred amid criticism from his Republican opponent - Sen. John McCain of Arizona - that he had recommended policy for the region without ever having visited the area.

Lt. Col. Bill Nutter, a spokesman for the U.S. military in Kuwait, said Mr. Obama spoke to soldiers, constituents and senior military leadership. During the two-hour visit, the officers gave him an overview of operations, then Mr. Obama shook hands, answered questions, posed for photos and played a little basketball.

He was expected to meet with President Hamid Karzai during his Afghanistan stop before heading to Iraq.

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