In a morning conference call with reporters, McCain senior foreign policy adviser Randy Scheunemann played down a report over the weekend that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki supports Barack Obama's 16-month withdrawal plan, and said any troop withdrawal must be "conditions-based."

Scheunemann simultaneously played up both the statement by a Maliki aide that the prime minister's remarks had been "misinterpreted and mistranslated" and Joint Chiefs Chairman Mike Mullen's statement that a withdrawal driven by dates would be "dangerous."

The McCain adviser slammed Obama for being "stubborn" and insisting on a "politically-motivated plan for withdrawal." He also hit Obama for his past statements that he would meet with leaders from countries such as Iran, calling it Obama's "unilateral cowboy summitry."

"We are pleased to see Obama is in Iraq and is getting to see the progress and security that has been made under the surge policy," Scheunemann said. On the news that Bush has agreed to a "time horizon" to withdraw troops, Scheunemann noted that there is a difference between a 'horizon' and a 'timetable.' "One unartful statement by Maliki does not change the Iraqi government's position" that withdrawal must be conditions-based, he said.