Maliki interview transcript

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,566852,00.html

First remember that despite claims of being wrongly translated, it was translated and released by Maliki's own people. Having read the transcript, the article did report the quotes with a bit of a slant however. Maliki's quotes that pertain to the US presidential race-with added italics to show what is important not to ignore:
Maliki: So far the Americans have had trouble agreeing to a concrete timetable for withdrawal, because they feel it would appear tantamount to an admission of defeat. But that isn't the case at all. If we come to an agreement, it is not evidence of a defeat, but of a victory, of a severe blow we have inflicted on al-Qaida and the militias. The American lead negotiators realize this now, and that's why I expect to see an agreement taking shape even before the end of President Bush's term in office. With these negotiations, we will start the whole thing over again, on a clearer, better basis, because the first proposals were unacceptable to us.

Now agreement was emphasized because it is important to recognize that he is talking about an arrangement with our country being the victory, not simply having our troops out of there country being a victory; despite that being the ultimate goal for both sides.

SPIEGEL: Would you hazard a prediction as to when most of the US troops will finally leave Iraq?
Maliki: As soon as possible, as far as we're concerned. U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama talks about 16 months. That, we think, would be the right timeframe for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes.

It is important to post the question first to show that the interviewer in no way put Obama's name in Maliki's mind. Maliki brought up Obama without prodding. It's very important to notice the wording "slight changes". It should not be overlooked that Maliki isn't implicitly endorsing the entirety of Obama's plan.

Maliki: Those who operate on the premise of short time periods in Iraq today are being more realistic. Artificially prolonging the tenure of US troops in Iraq would cause problems. Of course, this is by no means an election endorsement. Who they choose as their president is the Americans' business. But it's the business of Iraqis to say what they want. And that's where the people and the government are in general agreement: The tenure of the coalition troops in Iraq should be limited.

Him using the words "short term" is much more indicative of how much longer he-and as the last sentence shows, Iraqi's in general-feels this is going to last, not whether it'll be only 16 months from now or 16 months from when a new president would take office but that it shouldn't be 4 years from now (4 years was said simply as an example time frame).