New developments in Der Spiegel's version of al-Maliki's statement on Obama's withdrawal plan

Der Speigel has now modified its translation of al-Maliki's remarks 3 times. Hmm.

But also, there may be some al-Maliki flip flopping going on. The New York Times has some good information to put this issue into perspective. Their reporters spoke with senior US officials in Iraq, who said al-Maliki has a history of giving statements to journalists that he later has to issue clarifications for. (Good for the NYT.)

So it would be a major mistake for Obama to try to capitalize on the Der Spiegel interview an endorsement of his withdrawal plan, since al-Maliki is back-pedalling fast.