Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton plans to introduce an amendment repealing the congressional authorization for the war. It would require the president to seek new authority from Congress if he wanted to continue operations past Oct. 11, 2007, five years after initial authorization was given.
"If you simply repeal the language, then presumably you'd have to reauthorize something. You've got 150,000 troops over there and support personnel," Obama told The Associated Press in an interview after a campaign stop in Las Vegas.
"Why we would try that approach as opposed to simply setting a timetable for withdrawal strikes me as a convoluted approach to the problem," he said.
Clinton proposed the amendment, which is to be co-sponsored by West Virginia Sen. Robert Byrd, after facing persistent pressure, particularly from voters in early primary states, to distance herself from her initial vote to authorize the war.
"I was opposed to this war back in 2002, knowing that this was going to be a bad idea," the Illinois senator told the group of more than 100 gathered for a house party for precinct captains.
It was the freshman senator's fourth trip to Nevada since launching his presidential bid. His campaign used the trip to push back against the perception that Clinton was racing ahead in the state that will hold the nation's second caucus, Jan. 19. He answered the New York Democrat's raft of Nevada endorsements with a handful of his own.
