Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is refuting an article published by Der Spiegel, and being touted by the Obama campaign, that says al-Maliki agrees with Obama's plan for a 16-month timetable for withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. Problem is for Obama, that is not what the Prime Minister said!

Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has not endorsed any specific timeframe for possible U.S. troops withdrawals, a government spokesman said Sunday.

The statement by Ali al-Dabbagh came after an article was published by Germany’s Der Spiegel magazine which quoted al-Maliki as favoring the 16-month withdrawal window proposed by Barack Obama.

The article quoted al-Maliki as saying “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.”

Al-Dabbagh said al-Maliki’s views were “misunderstood and mistranslated” by Der Spiegel and that the prime minister backs a general vision of pulling out U.S. combat forces based on talks with Washington “and in the light of the continuing positive developments on the ground.”

Al-Dabbagh said statements by al-Maliki or any members of the Iraqi government “should not be understood as support to any U.S. presidential candidates.”

The al-Maliki comments that were published came ahead of Obama’s scheduled meeting with the leader. Obama, who is touring both Afghanistan and Iraq for the first time since becoming a presidential candidate, arrived Saturday in Afghanistan, where he is meeting with U.S. troops.

It will be a miracle if anyone outside Fox News even reports that al-Maliki is refuting that ever said he agreed with Obama's plan. Obama and his willing accomplices in the media are running with the story as proof that Obama's plan is the right one. Maliki knows full well that if U.S. Troops leave Iraq before conditions on the ground warrant, he is likely to be killed. Let's see if Obama's campaign corrects the record or if they ignore what the Prime Minister of Iraq says he said in favor of what the German magazine reported.