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Obama blasts Clinton vote on Iraq invasion

BY MARTIN C. EVANS | martin.evans@newsday.com

10:56 PM EST, January 24, 2008

BEAUFORT, S.C. - With just two days before the crucial South Carolina primary, Barack Obama issued one of his sharpest criticisms to date Thursday against Hillary Rodham Clinton, saying her failure to read an intelligence report on Iraq before voting to allow the U.S. invasion there placed her judgment in doubt.

Obama, who spoke against going to war in 2002 while in the Illinois legislature, said Clinton is trying to rewrite history by saying her vote to authorize the 2003 invasion was meant to give the president diplomatic leverage.

"I have been open about my reasons for opposing the war," Obama said. "But one of my opponents in the race, Senator Clinton, has tried, I believe, to rewrite history."

"We need accountability in our leaders," he said. "We can't undo a vote for war just because a war becomes unpopular."

Clinton says she voted to give President George W. Bush authority in hope of persuading Saddam Hussein to let weapons inspectors back into Iraq but Bush "misused" the authority.

With the Parris Island Marine training center and Shaw Air Force base, South Carolina has many military personnel and families among its residents.

But Obama's criticisms of the war at appearances across South Carolina, always carefully paired with praise for the sacrifice of the troops, drew applause wherever he stopped.

The freshman senator, who could become the first African- American to win the presidency, began his day with a rally before 1,000 people in rural Kingstree, where Bill Clinton had drawn a crowd of about 200 the day before.

Later, his bus caravan rolled through Clarendon County, where the first of five lawsuits that led to the 1954 ban on school segregation was filed. He ended his day with a loud rally at a Beaufort high school and another in North Charleston.

His wife, Michelle, also campaigned in the state, urging women to rally to his side.

An overnight Zogby poll showed Obama with a wide 39-24 lead over Clinton.

But that same poll showed Clinton had gained on Obama slightly, particularly among black voters, since the two engaged in testy exchanges during Monday's debate.

Obama campaign officials told reporters that the Clinton campaign has been playing possum, saying it has pumped money and resources into South Carolina even as Clinton has spent most of the week campaigning in western states.