Posted by Jed Lewison on Sat Jul 19, 2008 at 6:47 PM Pacific

Why did this come via CENTCOM?

Hmmm...the NYT reports that an Iraqi government spokesman is claiming Maliki was mistranslated. The spokesman, whose statement was distributed by the U.S. military, does not cite any specific mistranslation, however.

Update II: Dr. Ali al-Dabbagh, a spokesman for the Iraqi government, issued a statement saying Mr. Maliki’s statement had been “as not conveyed accurately regarding the vision of Senator Barack Obama, U.S. presidential candidate, on the timeframe for U.S. forces withdrawal from Iraq,” but it did not address a specific error. It did soften his support for Mr. Obama’s plan and implied a more tentative approach to withdrawing troops. More of the statement, which came from the U.S. military’s Central Command press office:

Al-Dabbagh explained that Mr. al-Maliki confirmed the existence of an Iraqi vision stems from the reality with regard to Iraq security needs, as the positive developments of the security situation and the improvement witnessed in Iraqi cities makes the subject of U.S. forces’ withdrawal within prospects, horizons and timetables agreed upon and in the light of the continuing positive developments on the ground, and security that came within the Strategic Plan for Cooperation which was laid and developed by Mr. Maliki and President George Bush. The Iraqi government appreciates and values the efforts of all the friends who continue to support and supporting Iraqi security forces.

Al-Dabbagh underscored that the statements made by the head of the ministerial council (Prime Minister al-Maliki) or any of the members of the Iraqi government should not be understood as support to any U.S. presidential candidates.

I wonder what to make of the fact that the statement was released through CENTCOM. Is that normal for Iraqi government press releases?

Whatever the case, there must be some interesting politics going on behind the scenes right now. Wonder if it's keeping McCain up late tonight?