Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has again clashed over foreign policy with rival Hillary Clinton.
Barack Obama has once again clashed with rival Hillary Clinton. Image: Irish Times.
In comments over the use of nuclear weapons, Mr Obama ruled out the use of such weapons to go after al-Qaeda or Taliban targets in Afghanistan or Pakistan, prompting Ms Clinton to say presidents never take the nuclear option off the table.
New York Senator Hilary Clinton
Mr Obama's nuclear position came a day after he vowed he would be willing to strike al-Qaeda targets inside Pakistan with or without the approval of the government of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.
The New York senator and former first lady said: "I think presidents should be very careful at all times in discussing the use, or non-use, of nuclear weapons.
"Presidents since the Cold War have used nuclear deterrence to keep the peace. And I don't believe that any president should make any blanket statements with respect to the use or non-use of nuclear weapons," she said.
The spat extends their feud over whether Mr Obama has enough experience to be elected president in November 2008.
Ms Clinton accused her rival of being naive and irresponsible for saying in a debate last week he would be willing to meet without preconditions the leaders of hostile nations Iran, Cuba, Syria, North Korea and Venezuela in his first year in office.
Ms Clinton's position was that she would only meet those leaders after careful lower-level diplomacy bore fruit.
Mr Obama said she represented conventional thinking in line with that of the Bush administration and would not bring the fundamental change Americans need.
The disputes come as Mr Obama, aiming to become the first black US president, struggles to close a big polling gap on Ms Clinton.
A new poll found Ms Clinton now holds a nearly two-to-one lead over Mr Obama in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, with the support of 40 per cent of Democrats to 21 per cent for Mr Obama.