Obama touts opposition to Iraq war

Barack Obama is counting on a former Air Force general who broke with Bush administration over the war in Iraq to help him convince voters that his early opposition to the war shows he has the judgment to be president.

In a new TV ad that the campaign unveiled today and that will air in Iowa, former Air Force Chief of Staff Tony McPeak says that "the old Washington hands" let America down and that Obama, a relative newcomer to Washington, is the best hope to restore America's standing in the world.

McPeak, who retired in 1994, campaigned for Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole in 1996 and was a co-chairman of Veterans for Bush in 2000, but has been one of several retired high-ranking military officers who have spoken out against the war.

He accompanied Obama last month in Iowa on several stops.

The 30-second spot is one of Obama's first to focus on foreign policy. He has repeatedly pointed out that his major rivals for the Democratic nomination -- Hillary Clinton and John Edwards -- voted in 2002 in the US Senate to authorize the invasion of Iraq. Obama gave what was billed as a major speech earlier this week on the fifth anniversary of when he first spoke out against the war.