Obama pledges to end war, nuclear weapons
U.S. Sen. Barack Obama promised today to seek a world with “no nuclear weapons,” end the War in Iraq and launch “a new chapter of American engagement” in world affairs.
“The Obama Administration will double foreign assistance to $50 billion,” the Democratic presidential hopeful said.
New consulates will open and more Americans will be deployed in foreign service instead of as soldiers, Obama said.
Obama pledged to make the Director of National Intelligence a fixed-term appointment to make the office less political. He also promised to declassify more documents.
The South Side Democrat drew applause when he promised as president he would seek “a world in which there are no nuclear weapons.”
But he immediately tempered that pledge, saying he would not pursue unilateral disarmament.
“As long as nuclear weapons exist, we’ll retain a strong nuclear deterrent,” Obama said.
He said he would work with Russia to “dramatically reduce the stockpiles of our nuclear weapons.”
Obama made his speech to commemmorate his speaking out against the war five years ago, days before Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York and former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards -- both now Democratic presidential rivals -- voted for the war. Obama spoke today before hundreds of students at DePaul University. They interrupted him often with applause.
“The first thing we need to do is end this war,” Obama said. “And the right person to end it is someone who had the judgment to oppose it from the beginning.”
To hammer home the point, the sign on Obama’s podium said, “The judgment to lead.”
After DePaul, Obama headed to Iowa to give the speech in several locales there.