By Patrick Appel
The NYT gets ahold of the audio:
The following is a direct translation from the Arabic of Mr. Maliki’s comments by The Times: “Obama’s remarks that if he takes office in 16 months he would withdraw the forces, we think that this period could increase or decrease a little, but that it could be suitable to end the presence of the forces in Iraq.”
He continued: “Who wants to exit in a quicker way has a better assessment of the situation in Iraq.”
Seems pretty clear to me. Hilzoy's take on Maliki's statement is here.