Obama rips Clinton over Iran vote

October 11, 2007

New York - Barack Obama said Hillary Clinton's vote to authorize the Iraq war exhibites the same "flawed" judgment she used in support of a resolution calling an Iranian group a terrorist organization.

Barack Obama said Hillary Clinton's vote to authorize the Iraq war exhibites the same flawed judgment she used in support of a resolution calling an Iranian group a terrorist organization.

The resolution, which declared the Iranian Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization, could be used by President Bush as a "blank check" that he interprets as authorization to take military action against Iran, Democratic presidential candidate Obama said.

"We know in the past that the president has used some of the flimsiest excuses to try to move his agenda regardless of what Congress says," Obama said to CNN's Wolf Blitzer.

When asked by an audience member at a campaign event Sunday why she voted for the resolution that the questioner said authorized military action against Iran, Clinton said, "The premise of the question is wrong," and went on to argue that the measure calls for the terrorist label so that sanctions can be imposed.

The sanctions, Clinton said while campaigning in New Hampton, Iowa, will in turn "send a clear message to the leadership" and lead to stronger diplomatic efforts.