WASHINGTON (April 22) - Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton warned Tehran on Tuesday that if she were president, the United States could "totally obliterate" Iran in retaliation for a nuclear strike against Israel.

On the day of a crucial vote in her nomination battle against fellow Democrat Barack Obama, the New York senator said she wanted to make clear to Tehran what she was prepared to do as president in hopes that this warning would deter any Iranian nuclear attack against the Jewish state.

"I want the Iranians to know that if I'm the president, we will attack Iran (if it attacks Israel)," Clinton said in an interview on ABC's "Good Morning America."

"In the next 10 years, during which they might foolishly consider launching an attack on Israel, we would be able to totally obliterate them," she said.

"That's a terrible thing to say but those people who run Iran need to understand that because that perhaps will deter them from doing something that would be reckless, foolish and tragic," Clinton said.

Her comments appeared harder than a week ago, when during a presidential debate she promised "massive retaliation" against any Iranian attack on Israel.

Obama rejected Clinton's rhetoric as saber rattling on a day when Pennsylvania Democrats voted in a party primary contest that could help decide which Democrat will face Republican John McCain for the White House in the November general election.

"One of the things that we've seen over the last several years is a bunch of talk using words like 'obliterate,"' Obama, an Illinois senator, said in a separate ABC interview. "It doesn't actually produce good results. And so I'm not interested in saber rattling."

Contradiction Accusation

The Obama campaign also issued a statement saying Clinton was contradicting her remarks at an August debate, where Obama spoke in favor of taking unilateral military action in Pakistan if the United States had actionable intelligence on the whereabouts of senior al Qaeda members.

Clinton had said she did not believe "people running for president should engage in hypotheticals" and called it a mistake "to telegraph" what U.S. strategy might be at a time of unrest inside Pakistan.

At a Tuesday news conference in the Philadelphia suburb of Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, Clinton said the question of Iran merited hypothetical discussion because a nuclear Tehran would require straightforward Cold War-style deterrence. "It's a question not of what might be on or off the table," she said.

Meanwhile, Obama said he would respond "forcefully and swiftly" to an Iranian attack against Israel or any other U.S. ally, whether conventional or nuclear.

Iran, which Washington and its allies charge is seeking nuclear arms, has voiced war-like rhetoric in recent years amid speculation its nuclear facilities could face U.S. or Israeli military action.

Tehran denies it is trying to acquire nuclear weapons and says it needs nuclear technology to generate electricity.

Israel is widely believed to have nuclear weapons but, as part of a policy of "strategic ambiguity," has not confirmed or denied the nature of its arsenal.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad outraged the international community in 2005 by saying "Israel should be wiped off the map." A week ago, a senior Iranian army commander said Iran would "eliminate" Israel in response to any military attack from the Jewish state.

Copyright 2008 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

2008-04-22 17:04:03

Read Related Blogs and Articles

Must Read?

92 %

8 %

0 VOTES

Recent Comments

Post Your Own

1 - 10 of 228

228 comments

carbeamtz 10:43:05 AM Apr 28 2008

Report This!

CAN YOU IMAGAINE A POWER HUNGRY WOMEN WITH THE "A" BOMB?

clean2020window 08:58:56 PM Apr 27 2008

Report This!

IT IS VERY SIMPLE,, KILL THE SUPERDELEGATE SYSTEM RIGHT NOW AND LET THE MAJORITY WILL OF THE PEOPLE DECIDE WHO IS TO BE NOMINEE...

BEFORE THE MOCKERY OF DEMOCRACY STRANGLES THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY AND DISILLUSIONS THE MASSES WHO HAVE RETURNED TO THE SYSTEM...

THE RICH BILLIONAIRES AND MILLIONIARES WHO HAVE PURCHASED THE CREDIBILITY OF THE ELECTION SYSTEM ARE HOPING THAT THE AVERAGE AMERICAN VOTER WILL CHOKE ON THE APATHY THAT THE SUPERDELEGATES WILL SHOVE DOWN THEIR THROATS..

jkanon 05:38:23 PM Apr 27 2008

Report This!

-------
Wright gave up his student deferment in 1961, voluntarily joined the Marines, and after a two year stint, volunteered to become a Navy corpsman. He excelled and became valedectorian of his class. Later he became a cardiopulmonary technician and eventually a member of the President's medical team. Wright cared for Lyndon B. Johnson after his 1966 surgery, earning three White House letters of commendation. Dick Cheney, born in the same year as Wright, received five deferments, later saying that he had other things to do rather than go to war. I am not saying that Wright should have said what he said but there is more to his story than people are saying.

inspectordeck08 02:17:46 PM Apr 27 2008

Report This!

Hillary wants to give out 5 grand for every new born, so she can set the stage for the graft and WW3.

inspectordeck08 02:16:14 PM Apr 27 2008

Report This!

Hillary wants to start WW3! She voted to authorize Bush's invasion of Iraq, She voted for Bush's Resolution naming Iran's military "terrorists", She sent Mark Penn to Columbia pushing for bush's trade agreement in exchange for using their land to invade Venezuela, now She says she wants to "Obliterate" Iran. Hillary wants to find any reason to start a war with Iran by putting their Islamic enemies under the same umbrella Israel is under. That way Hillary can have an excuse to invade Iran if they strike any Islamic countries. Hillary or McCain would implement this plan, because they know Iran won't strike Israel unless Israel strikes them first. Iran is following the UN guide lines. No need for WW3. Vote Obama for President!

cgrannyrock 02:15:20 PM Apr 27 2008

Report This!

Hillary and Obama both are about a bright as a box of rocks, so sure lets put the crazy woman in the white house, what is she thinking?! And Obama--sure lets put an anti-american in there--he can sell us out totally! This country is already in a huge economic crisis, and are faced with a multitude of problems here, like how are we going to afford to even get to work, feed our families and afford proper health care, and Hillary wants US to contribute to her campaign, Lady Warbucks is to tight to spend anymore of her own money----what a loser! So sure lets elect HER to run this country---what a bunch of brain dead idiots are we if we allow this to happen?

inspectordeck08 01:58:03 PM Apr 27 2008

Report This!

Hillary is a GOP operative for McCain! Obama won the nomination, and Hillary knows it. Hillary is only in the race to help McCain derail Obama's chances in the general election. The only way for Hillary to run again in 2012, is to make sure Obama loses the general election. The Democratic party wants a democrat in the White House, The Clintons don't want a democrat in the White House if the nominee isn't Hillary. This is political "TREASON". The Clintons put themselves before the party and the American people! Vote Obama for President!!!

crhfuzzy 01:19:30 PM Apr 27 2008

Report This!

Oh man, doesn't she realize that she's blowing her campaign into the water? This is coming from a woman who claims that she would pull the troops out of Iraq (before the job is even finished, mind you, and allow social unrest to take over again. I don't care why we went in there in the first place; the point is that our men and women are over there still and need our support). She'd be just meeting violence with more violence. Isn't peace and anti-war slogans part of her platform? What a HYPOCRITE.

schneckdeb 10:33:08 AM Apr 27 2008

Report This!

Oh, I can see it now ... if Obama does happen to become President ... he will be worse than George W., in that he will only appear to the public in guarded and controlled circumstances ... reading (quite dramatically, mind you) from teleprompters. He is not a good extemporaneous speaker; he is not a great debater; he does not respond well to difficult or challenging questions; and he does not relate well to others individually (except when playing basketball). I think at the very least you can say that he does not wear his compassion or empathy on his sleeve, and that when challenged, his nose goes up in the air and he visibly tenses. There is a distance ... more of a Eugene McCarthy than a Robert F. Kennedy (in 1968 terms). Perhaps he is afraid that operating in non-controlled circumstances will remove the mask he is wearing, and reveal his inexperience, or the fact that he is simply an "empty suit".

bernard460202 10:10:37 AM Apr 27 2008

Report This!

Hillary is out to destroy the PARTY.She can never,NEVER ,win this campaign. She can oly take care of Bill's zipper and his mouth.And even that is a poor performance.So Billary, go home, to Outer Mongolia, in an old blue shoe.GO, GO, GO, GO NOW.....NOW.

1 - 10 of 228

228 comments