Obama: History’s verdict on Bush will ‘not be kind’

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) on Tuesday blasted President Bush’s foreign policy record, saying that “his judgments will be subject to the harsh light of history, and the verdict will not be kind.”

But Obama also criticized his main opponents for the Democratic nomination for helping start the Iraq war.

{mosads}“It’s easy for us to lay all of the problems of the world at George Bush’s doorstep,” Obama said in Des Moines, Iowa.

“George Bush did not take us to war alone,” the Illinois senator stated, noting that Congress authorized the use of force.

Obama indicated that his opposition to the war gives him an edge in a general election matchup.

“My opponent won’t be able to say that I ever supported the war in Iraq, or that I don’t support a clear timetable to bring our troops home,” Obama said, taking a swipe at Democratic front-runner Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.). “He won’t be able to say that I voted to use our troops in Iraq to counter Iran, or that I support the Bush-Cheney diplomacy of not talking to leaders we don’t like.”

Obama reiterated his pledge to personally talk to Iran about its choices.

“We need a president who is willing to talk to all nations — friend and foe,” Obama said. “Not talking doesn’t make us look tough, it makes us look arrogant.”

The Illinois senator pledged to listen to all of his advisers and said that there would not be an “ideological or loyalty test” in his administration.