Obama never denied my report. Nor did he approach the Iraqi officials to seek a denial. While the controversy was raging, Zebari and the Iraqi President Jalal Talabani were in New York, attending the UN General Assembly. Both were interviewed by half a dozen American media outlets. However, neither of them was asked whether Obama had tried to delay the negotiations. Both assumed that the US media was anxious not to risk a revival of a controversy that would do Obama little good. Had the question been posed, both would have been obliged to admit that Obama had tried to interfere with the negotiations.

Since the controversy started, I have contacted three senior Iraqi government officials who have confirmed that Obama did try to derail the negotiations. However, the officials refused to be quoted on the record for fear that they would soon have to deal with a President Obama. "We will agree to speak openly if Obama loses," one senior official quipped in a telephone conversation.

What Obama hoped his more radical followers would not notice is that he is no longer speaking of "withdrawal".

He also hoped to hide the fact that by telling the Iraqi leaders that a putative Obama administration might scrap agreements reached with the Bush team, he might have delayed the start of a process that should lead to a withdrawal of US forces within a mutually-agreed timeframe. The later you start the negotiating process, the later you get an agreement. And the later you have an agreement, the later you can withdraw your troops based on the agreed necessary security arrangements to ensure their safe departure.