Democrat Barack Obama suggested yesterday that Hillary Clinton cannot be trusted to make good judgments on national security and military matters after citing her Iraq war vote.
Mr Obama, accusing the New York senator of trying "to rewrite history," said Mrs Clinton still contends that her 2002 vote authorising military intervention in Iraq was "not really a vote for war."
"She cast her vote after failing to read the national intelligence estimates on Iraq, which raised doubts in some lawmakers' minds about the justification of ousting Saddam Hussein," Mr Obama said during a discussion with armed service members.
Mr Obama, who was in the Illinois Senate at the time, publicly opposed the invasion. "We need accountability in our leaders," said Mr Obama. "You can't undo a vote for war just because the war stopped being popular."
Mr Obama has been campaigning across South Carolina this week ahead of the state's Democratic presidential primary on Saturday.
A poll released yesterday showed he still led Mrs Clinton by 38 per cent to 30 per cent, but his support among men had dropped by half in just a week.
Mrs Clinton has said her vote was intended to strengthen President Bush's hand in building international pressure against Saddam, not to approve a prompt invasion.
A Clinton campaign spokesman said it was "tough to take his [Obama's] comments too seriously".