Obama Warns of Using GIs To Blunt Iran's Influence

Senator Obama is warning that Senator Clinton would use American troops in Iraq to blunt Iranian influence there, an approach that he contends would complicate the military's mission and have the potential to delay an American withdrawal.

"The primary difference between myself and Senator Clinton is that she believes that our force structure inside Iraq should, in part, depend on how we can prevent Iran from having influence inside of Iraq. And I think that is a mistake, particularly at a time when we know this administration has been itching to escalate the tensions between Iran and the United States," Mr. Obama said yesterday in an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press."

The Illinois senator, who is one of Mrs. Clinton's rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination, pointed to a statement the former first lady made earlier this year in which she said one goal for American forces remaining in Iraq should be to limit Iranian meddling in the country.

"We have a continuing vital national security interest in trying to prevent Iran from crossing the border and having too much influence inside of Iraq," Mrs. Clinton said in a March interview with the New York Times.

"That then presents the possibility of a mission creep, an expansion that would involve more troops than I think is necessary," Mr. Obama said yesterday.

Aides to Mrs. Clinton suggested that Mr. Obama's critique smacked of opportunism prompted by a desire to appeal to anti-war Democrats. In a rebuttal posted on the Internet, Mrs. Clinton's campaign said that in a speech about a year ago, the Illinois senator said "the exact same thing" about using American forces to limit Iranian meddling in Iraq.

"A reduced but active presence [in Iraq] will also send a clear message to hostile countries like Iran and Syria that we intend to remain a key player in this region," Mr. Obama declared in a speech last November to a Chicago foreign affairs group. "Make no mistake — if the Iranians and Syrians think they can use Iraq as another Afghanistan or a staging area from which to attack Israel or other countries, they are badly mistaken. It is in our national interest to prevent this from happening."

Contrary to the suggestion from Mrs. Clinton's camp, Mr. Obama's proposal was not exactly the same as that of the New York senator. He made clear in his remarks a year ago that the residual American force that might counterbalance Iran would operate only at the invitation of an Iraqi government making progress on resolving the country's internal strife. Mrs. Clinton's use of the term "vital national security interest" suggested she would seek to thwart Iran even if the Iraqis fail to get their house in order.

On the other hand, Mr. Obama's insistence that the disagreement is a major point of difference with Mrs. Clinton seems overwrought since he alluded to American troops playing the same role, albeit with Iraqi consent.

On NBC, Mr. Obama also endorsed a tax hike to address a future shortfall in the Social Security Trust Fund. He said he had not settled on a precise formula but that he would favor extending the tax to income beyond the current cap of $97,500 a person.

"The best option would be to make sure that those who are in the best position to help solve this problem are willing to do so," Mr. Obama said. He said he might support a "doughnut hole" that would tax high-income earners, but not impose the tax on incomes just over the cap. "Tax increase for people like myself, probably," he said.

Mr. Obama seemed to soften his opposition to proposals to shore up Social Security by increasing the retirement age or indexing benefits to prices rather than wages.

Asked repeatedly if such changes were out of the question, Mr. Obama said, "I will listen to all arguments and the best options, finding out what is it going to take to close that gap."

Though Mr. Obama has raised doubts about Mrs. Clinton's electability, he said yesterday he believes Mrs. Clinton could overcome those concerns. "I'm not somebody who believes that she can't win. I believe that it's going to be harder for her to win, because I think a lot of voters go in with some preconceptions about her that are going to be … very difficult to overcome," he said.

The Illinois senator said Mrs. Clinton's greater challenge would be passing health care or climate change legislation that would upset the status quo. "We can't do that with a 50-plus-one majority," he said.