Democrat Obama signals flexibility on Iraq

By Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrat Barack Obama's presidential campaign is signalling more flexibility on his pledge to quickly pull U.S. troops out of Iraq if elected as part of a move toward the political centre.

Obama's emerging shift of nuance on Iraq, the signature issue that helped him defeat Democrat rival Hillary Clinton to win his party's presidential nomination, comes as he prepares to make his first trip to Iraq.

The Illinois senator has repeatedly pledged to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq, one brigade every month until all are out in 16 months. Last September he argued, "the best way to protect our security and to pressure Iraq's leaders to resolve their civil war is to immediately begin to remove our combat troops."

Aides say Obama is still committed to the 16-month goal but they appear to be leaving him wiggle room now that the U.S. troop surge is credited with bringing some stability there.

Susan Rice, a top Obama foreign policy adviser, told MSNBC on Tuesday that "we absolutely have to draw down and redeploy our forces from Iraq."

"But he has said over and over again we have to be as careful getting out as George Bush was careless getting in. So he will redeploy our forces responsibly, at a rate that our commanders say is safe and sustainable."

Letting commanders have a say in the pace of withdrawal is new language from the Obama campaign.

Anthony Lake, who was Democratic President Bill Clinton's national security adviser and now a senior Obama foreign policy adviser, told the Financial Times Obama would maintain a "residual force for clearly defined missions" in Iraq.

This would include military training and "preparedness to go back in if there are specific acts of genocidal violence."

Lake compared the Iraq war to the conflict in Vietnam in citing the need to leave behind a functioning Iraqi government.

"It is common sense that we could not leave Vietnam successfully unless we left behind a government in Saigon that could govern successfully," he told the newspaper, lamenting that this view was not obvious enough to many U.S. politicians at the time.

Obama recently has been shifting toward more moderate positions on several key issues -- Republicans call it politically expedient flip-flopping -- now that he has won his party's nomination and will face Republican John McCain in the November 4 election.

He abandoned a vow to reopen the North American Free Trade Agreement for renegotiations with Mexico and Canada, did not oppose a Supreme Court decision last week striking down Washington's gun ban and has said he would support expanding the government's wiretap authority.

LIBERALS TAKE NOTICE

The liberal left that helped propel Obama to the nomination is taking notice.