Obama ‘pleased’ about quelling of the violence in Iraq

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Tuesday, following a visit to Iraq, that he is “pleased” about a “quelling of the violence” in the country.

The Illinois Democrat, a strong opponent of the troop surge that coincided with the beginning of a reduction in violence, credited the U.S. military for efforts that have led to the improved situation.

{mosads}However, during a press conference in Jordan, he also stressed that “we don’t know what would have happened” if his plan of putting more pressure on the Iraqi government had been put in place.

The campaign of Obama’s GOP rival, Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), has put great pressure on the Democrat, seeking to cast him as wrong on the surge.

“The position he took a year ago to oppose the surge would have left us with a great loss and a Middle East in chaos right now,” former New York mayor and McCain supporter Rudy Giuliani (R) said on NBC’s “Today Show” earlier Tuesday. “The position that was the correct one, that turned out historically to be correct, is the position that we should have done the surge.”

Obama said he understands that U.S. commanders in Iraq want as much flexibility as possible with regard to troop size but he argued that his job “as a potential commander in chief extends beyond Iraq.”