Matt Duss has a great Wonk Room post catching George Bush pressuring Nouri al-Maliki to delay U.S. withdrawal from Iraq to save John McCain’s ass. Here’s what Maliki said:

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.

Angel Duss:

I would say that I’m shocked, but of course, this is the way that the Bush administration has always treated national security, as just another piece in a political game.