I do not think he said what you heard

You know how Prime Minister Maliki said it was time to negotiate a timetable for withdrawal of US forces from Iraq?

He didn't say that.

The prime minister was widely quoted as saying that in the negotiations with the Americans on a Status of Forces Agreement to regulate the US troop presence from next year, "the direction is towards either a memorandum of understanding on their evacuation, or a memorandum of understanding on a timetable for their withdrawal".

That was the version of Mr Maliki's remarks put out in writing by his office in Baghdad.

It was widely circulated by the news media, and caught much attention, including that of Mr Obama.

There is only one problem. It is not what Mr Maliki actually said.

What he actually said was: "The direction is towards either a memorandum of understanding on their evacuation, or a memorandum of understanding on programming their presence."

Italics mine.

Actually, it's more complicated than that. Why is it complicated? The governments of Iraq and the US are negotiating a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA).

Details at the BBC story above, analysis at Belmont Club.