McCain endorses 'Obama's 16-month plan', says it's a good timetable for withdrawal

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Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki gave an interview with the SPIEGEL and supported Barack Obama’s 16-month plan to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq.

Initially the Bush administration and the McCain campaign said Maliki’s words were taken out of context but later an audio recording and subsequent translation by New York Times proved SPIEGEL’s original interview was as quoted by Maliki.

McCain heavily criticized Obama’s plan last week and he said both Maliki and Obama are wrong and the troops should be there as long as necessary. He also said there won’t be any timetable and he knows what Iraqis want despite Maliki being the elected leader for Iraqis.

McCain also has criticized Obama earlier about the withdrawal on May 16.

For him [Obama] to talk about dates for withdrawal, which basically is surrender in Iraq after we're succeeding so well is, I think, really inexcusable.

But in a CNN interview shown in the video he switches his position and supports Obama’s 16-month plan. He said the plan “would be the right timeframe for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes."

Here is the transcript of the video:

BLITZER: What if Maliki persists? You're president and he says he wants US troops out and he wants them out, let's say in a year or two years or 16 months or whatever. What do you do? Do you listen to the prime minister?

MCCAIN: He won't. He won't. He won't. Because it has to be condition-based.

BLITZER: How do you know?

MCCAIN: Because I know him. And I know him very well. And I know the other leaders. And I know -- I've been there eight times, as you know. I know them very, very well.

BLITZER: So why do you think he said that 16 months is basically a pretty good timetable?

MCCAIN: He said it's a pretty good timetable based on conditions on the ground. I think it's a pretty good timetable, as we should -- or horizons for withdrawal. But they have to be based on conditions on the ground.

Did Obama ask for McCain’s endorsement?