I was afraid of this...

The New York Post has an interesting story regarding Obama's trip to Iraq. I will be interested to hear the Obama camp respond to this. If it is true, and Obama denies it, if he wins his White House bid things could get really ugly in US/Iraqi relations. If Obama is as popular 'around the world' as we hear, why would they make this up? Here are some excerpts from the article:

" WHILE campaigning in public for a speedy withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, Sen. Barack Obama has tried in private to persuade Iraqi leaders to delay an agreement on a draw-down of the American military presence."

...

""He asked why we were not prepared to delay an agreement until after the US elections and the formation of a new administration in Washington," Zebari said in an interview.

Obama insisted that Congress should be involved in negotiations on the status of US troops - and that it was in the interests of both sides not to have an agreement negotiated by the Bush administration in its "state of weakness and political confusion.""

...

"Though Obama claims the US presence is "illegal," he suddenly remembered that Americans troops were in Iraq within the legal framework of a UN mandate. His advice was that, rather than reach an accord with the "weakened Bush administration," Iraq should seek an extension of the UN mandate."

I have always feared something like this was happening behind closed doors, in the secret halls of democrat strategy... But only time will tell if this is a true and correct story.