Sweet blog special: Nuke? No nuke? Obama works to define position. UPDATE. Dodd says Obama "confused."

WASHINGTON–Nuke? Or no Nuke? White House hopeful Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) opened a new front on Thursday in suggesting he would be hesitant to use nuclear weapons. This comes a day after talking tough about sending U.S. assets in to Pakistan to root out terrorists even if the U.S. is not invited.

Here’s the news story that may impact Obama presidential coverage for the next cycle (he hoped to get attention for his role in the Senate ethics and lobbying package passed this afternoon with 80 votes). It’s an interview by Dennis Conrad of the Associated Press, who talked to Obama after the regular Thursday Illinois breakfast. The Republican National Committee did an e-mail blast with the quotes.

Click below for the operative quotes where Obama said he was against a nuke hit involving civilians–and then retreats.

This is not the first time Obama had to refine, define and retool along the way on foreign policy questions. He spent part of last week honing his thoughts on meeting with despots without precondition. For other examples check previous posts at blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2007/04/sweet_column_obama_says_he_was.html

from the AP story…

”I think it would be a profound mistake for us to use nuclear weapons in any circumstance,” Obama said, with a pause, ”involving civilians.” Then he quickly added, ”Let me scratch that. There’s been no discussion of nuclear weapons. That’s not on the table.”

============================================

this from the Dodd campaign…

WASHINGTON – Today, Presidential Candidate Chris Dodd released the following statement on Senator Obama’s statements on military action he would or would not take as President:

“Over the past several days, Senator Obama’s assertions about foreign and military affairs have been, frankly, confusing and confused. He has made threats he should not make and made unwise categorical statements about military options.

“We are facing a dangerous and complicated world. The next President will require a level of understanding and judgment unprecedented in American history to address these challenges.”