Via Think Progress:

In an al-Iraqiya interview on September 17, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki revealed that the Bush administration has attempted to time Iraq withdrawal in a way that would benefit John McCain and the Republican Party.

MALIKI: Actually, the final date was really the end of 2010 and the period between the end of 2010 and the end of 2011 was for withdrawing the remaining troops from all of Iraq, but they [the Bush administration] asked for a change [in date] due to political circumstances related to the domestic situation [in the US] so it will not be said to the end of 2010 followed by one year for withdrawal but the end of 2011 as a final date. Agreement has been reached on this issue. They are willing to respond positively because they, too, are facing a critical situation.

Matt Yglesias comments:

As you may recall, over the summer Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki embarrassed John McCain by endorsing Barack Obama’s call for a withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq by the end of 2010, thus rejecting the Bush/McCain position that such a timeline would constitute some form of surrender, appeasement, or other such disastrous measure.

Maliki reiterated this stance several times, and then wound up in negotiations with the Bush administration. That process ended in a withdrawal timetable being set, thus essentially vindicating Obama, but Bush was able to save face by the fact that the end date was pushed back to 2011 — thus preventing it from being a complete ratification of what Obama had already proposed.

Of course, no one is shocked either in Iraq or America. President Bush always views Iraq in terms of U.S. politics– that’s what the so-called “surge” was about. Bush found a way to leave office with more troops in Iraq than before the country voted for withdrawal in 2006. The cost of his political stunt was very high– thanks to the “surge,” 2007 was the bloodiest year of the occupation and the situation in Afghanistan deteriorated because all the reinforcements went to Iraq.

UPDATE: Rachel Maddow followed up on this story.

“So the prime minister of Iraq says on tape,” Maddow summarized, “according to our own government’s translation, that the Bush administration wants to prolong the war in Iraq for an extra year because of our domestic politics.”

“If you feel like your hair is on fire right now,” she added, “you’re not alone.”

When contacted by the Maddow Show, a White House spokesperson replied with familiar rhetoric, saying, “We do not have anything to announce on that. … What we’re really pleased about is the fact that we’re having these discussions. … Any decisions on troops will be based on the conditions on the ground.”

“If you’re keeping track at home, you’re right,” Maddow commented. “They are not directly denying what the Iraqi prime minister said — which is incredible.”