Obama Seeks War-Funding Compromise

May 13, 2007 — -- Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., could support a war-funding bill that includes benchmarks but lacks a timetable for withdrawal, the 2008 Democratic presidential candidate told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos in an exclusive "This Week" interview.

But Obama made clear he opposes giving the president a "blank check" for the war in Iraq.

"There's got to be something that signals the president is changing course, and that there are consequences to the Iraqi government failing to meet some of the benchmarks that we're talking about," Obama said.

And while, like the rest of the Democratic field for president, Obama has emphasized his support for withdrawing American troops from Iraq, he left the door open to returning to the country if the situation continues to deteriorate, especially if withdrawal were to incite a Shiite genocide of the Sunnis.

"I think we have some moral and humanitarian responsibilities to the Iraqi people," said Obama. "And that has to be factored in. I can't anticipate what Iraq will look like a year from now, because so much depends on how we carry out this phased redeployment and how effective we are when it comes to diplomacy."

Obama burst onto the national stage three years ago, with a fiery and passionate keynote address to the Democratic National Convention in Boston. But thirteen weeks after announcing his candidacy for president, it is clear that Obama has intentionally adopted a more low-key approach to campaigning in the early primary states.

"What I don't do when I'm campaigning is to try to press a lot of hot buttons and use a lot of cheap applause buttons, because I want people to get a sense of how I think about this process," said Obama. "I think that one of the problems with political speeches is that we all know what folks want to hear. We know who the conventional, stereotypical enemies are on any given issue, and we have a tendency, I think, to play up to that. And I actually think that we're in this moment in history right now where honesty, admitting complexity is a good thing."