U.S. Democratic presidential hopeful slams Iraq report

Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama sharply criticized the Bush administration's recent assessments on Iraq Wednesday. Obama launched the assault during a campaign stop in Iowa, U.S. media reported. The senator, who sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the timing of the report by top U.S. officials in Iraq to Congress, was ill-conceived and erroneously links 9/11 to the war in Iraq. Obama said, "I think we should not have had this discussion on 9/11 -- Or 9/10 or 9/12 -- because I think it perpetuates the notion that the original decision to go into Iraq was directly related to the attacks on 9/11." The senator, who was not in office when Congress agreed to authorize the use of force in Iraq, has long stated his opposition to the war in Iraq, a move he hopes will distance him from rival candidate Hillary Clinton, who initially approved U.S. military action in the country. Obama's criticism of the administration's policy comes a day after Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, reported to Congress and recommended a gradual and partial drawdown of U.S. troops in Iraq to the pre-surge level by next summer. Rejecting Petraeus' recommendation, the senator called for the phased withdrawal of U.S. troops to begin immediately. In January, Obama introduced legislation calling for withdrawal to start on May 1 and for all combat brigades to be pulled out by March 31, 2008.