Clinton in '06: nukes "off the table" in Iran

Hillary Clinton, who has criticized rival Barack Obama for saying the use of nuclear weapons in Pakistan and Afghanistan should be "off the table," expressed a nearly identical sentiment about Iran a year ago, the Associated Press is reporting this afternoon.

After Obama made his remarks about nuclear weapons, Clinton said, "I don't believe that any president should make any blanket statements with respect to the use or non-use of nuclear weapons." But in an April 2006 interview with Bloomberg Television, the AP reports, Clinton, when asked about reports that the Bush administration was considering a nuclear strike against Iran's nuclear program, said: "I have said publicly no option should be off the table, but I would certainly take nuclear weapons off the table. This administration has been very willing to talk about using nuclear weapons in a way we haven't seen since the dawn of a nuclear age. I think that's a terrible mistake."

Clinton's campaign says the situations are different, but her 2006 comments complicate her attempts to paint Obama as a neophyte in world affairs. This is the second time a past remark by Clinton has come back to haunt her in the ongoing debate with Obama over foreign policy. After she called him "irresponsible" and "naive" for saying last month that he would sit down unconditionally with America's enemies, Obama's campaign noted that Clinton said earlier this year, "I think it is a terrible mistake for our president to say he will not talk with bad people."

UPDATE: Chris Dodd piles on. To wit: "I was disappointed to learn that Mrs. Clinton, like Mr. Obama, would make such an unwise categorical statement about military options," he said in a statement. "If nothing else, these kinds of careless statements expose the difference in the candidates' depth of experience and understanding when it comes to the complex world of foreign policy and military affairs."