Stalling for power

According to Amir Taheri in this opinion piece for the New York Post, Obama has attempted to usurp the role of the President and the State Department in foreign relations:

While campaigning in public for a speedy withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, Sen. Barack Obama has tried in private to persuade Iraqi leaders to delay an agreement on a draw-down of the American military presence.

He also attempted to usurp the President's role as Commander-in-Chief of the US armed forces:

While in Iraq, Obama also tried to persuade the US commanders, including Gen. David Petraeus, to suggest a "realistic withdrawal date." They declined.

Taheri provides his thoughts as to why Obama might have done this. For example:

Iraqi leaders are divided over the US election. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani (whose party is a member of the Socialist International) sees Obama as "a man of the Left" - who, once elected, might change his opposition to Iraq's liberation. Indeed, say Talabani's advisers, a President Obama might be tempted to appropriate the victory that America has already won in Iraq by claiming that his intervention transformed failure into success.

Now I'm going to take this with a grain of salt; this is an opinion piece after all. As Fox News is reporting, the Obama camp has denied the allegations in Taheri's article. But if it's true, my understanding is that it's a violation of Federal law. I'm going to keep my eyes open for any additional information on this.