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From USA Today:
Obama's whirlwind tour of Iraq began in the relatively secure southern city of Basra and was to end in volatile Anbar province. It was his first visit since clinching the nomination in June.
The increased security that Obama witnessed has led to more talk of a timeline for withdrawing U.S. troops. Iraqi leaders said Monday they would like to see that happen in 2010 -- potentially within the 16-month window that Obama proposed.
"We are hoping that in 2010 that combat troops will withdraw from Iraq," government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said after Obama met with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
... Obama, traveling with Sens. Jack Reed, D-R.I., and Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., potential vice presidential choices, met first with al-Maliki and Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and later with Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker. He also met with a few of the roughly 147,000 U.S. troops who remain in the country.
The three senators released a statement crediting the work by U.S. and Iraqi security forces, Sunnis and Shiites for the reduced violence.
From the Washington Post:
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama met [in Kabul] Sunday with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and later reiterated his call for additional U.S. forces to deal with conditions in Afghanistan that he described as "precarious and urgent," capping a two-day tour as casualties continued to mount from violence in the war-torn country.
Obama joined Karzai for a "working lunch," marking the first meeting for the Afghan president and the presumptive Democratic nominee. Obama's colleagues in the congressional delegation visiting Afghanistan, Sens. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) and Jack Reed (D-R.I.), were also at the lunch, said Humayun Hamidzada, Karzai's chief spokesman. Hamidzada said the heads of Afghanistan's ministries of defense and foreign affairs, and Karzai's national security adviser, also attended the nearly two-hour meeting.
... Obama also said that the United States should press neighboring Pakistan harder to help eliminate the terrorist sanctuaries and training camps along the border that are fueling the strength of the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. "I think that message has not been sent," he said in implicit criticism of the current administration.
... In a statement issued after the meeting with Karzai, Obama, Hagel and Reed said their trip had been aimed at assessing whether the United States has the right strategy and resources to defeat the Taliban and al-Qaeda. "Our message to the Afghan government is this: We want a strong partnership based on 'more for more' -- more resources from the United States and NATO, and more action from the Afghan government to improve the lives of the Afghan people," they said.
From the Associated Press:
Face to face with Iraq's leaders, Barack Obama gained fresh support Monday for the idea of pulling all U.S. combat forces out of the war zone by 2010.
... The Democratic presidential contender also got a military briefing -- and a helicopter tour -- from the top U.S. commander in the region, Gen. David Petraeus, and he met with a few of the nearly 150,000 U.S. troops now well into the war's sixth year.
... As Obama visited Iraq for the first time in more than two years, comments Monday by the nation's government spokesman roughly mirrored the Illinois senator's withdrawal schedule and offered a glimpse of Iraq's growing confidence as violence drops and Iraqi security forces expand their roles.
"We are hoping that in 2010 that combat troops will withdraw from Iraq," spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said after Obama met with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki -- who has struggled for days to clarify Iraq's position on a possible timetable for a U.S. troop pullout.
Iraq's Sunni vice president, Tariq al-Hashemi, said after meeting Obama that Iraqi leaders share "a common interest ... to schedule the withdrawal of American troops."
... "Excellent conversation," [Obama] said as he left talks with al-Hashemi in his gold-hued reception room. "Very constructive," he said after leaving a meeting with al-Maliki.
From the Washington Post:
Yet another influential environmental group endorsed Senator Barack Obama for president today in his contest against his GOP rival John McCain.
The League of Conservation Voters, which rates congressional members voting records each year, announced its support for Obama in a series of events across the country today.
"Senator Obama's proven record and his commitment to a clean, renewable energy future make him the best choice for President," LCV president Gene Karpinski said in a statement. "At a time when this country must reinvent itself for a new energy future, we can imagine no better steward than Barack Obama. Under his leadership, America will finally achieve the economic growth, environmental protection, and national security that are possible with a new, clean energy economy."
Said Obama, also in the statement distributed by the LCV, "I thank the members of the League of Conservation Voters across our nation for their support and know that, together, we will create a better, cleaner, more secure future."
The Sierra Club and Friends of the Earth, two other national environmental groups, have already endorsed Obama.
From the Wall Street Journal:
Delegates to the 66th Biennial Convention of the National Association of Letter Carriers, acting on a motion by "Honorary NALC member" Hillary Rodham Clinton, voted enthusiastically today to endorse Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) for president in this fall's general election.
The 303,000-member NALC was one of the first unions to support Senator Clinton's presidential bid last September and was at the forefront of a nationwide grassroots mobilization on her behalf throughout the primary campaign.
In an address to over 8,000 convention delegates just before the endorsement vote, Clinton urged the NALC members to work hard to elect Obama as president this fall.
"I believe this country is worth fighting for and I believe firmly that the best way to continue this fight is to elect Sen. Barack Obama as President of the United States," she said.
... NALC President William H. Young said Obama stands with letter carriers on every issue important to them including legislation to ban contracting out of letter carrier jobs, support of the Employee Free Choice Act to help workers obtain union protection, and opposition to Do-Not-Mail registries that threaten affordable postage for most Americans.
"Senator Obama has clearly shown he can mobilize this country for change and he has demonstrated a remarkable level-headedness about the war in Iraq from the start," Young told the convention. "The NALC will do everything in its power to make him the next President of the United States."