Powell downplays Obama 'inexperience'

0 Comments | AFP, April, 2008

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Former US secretary of state Colin Powell Thursday downplayed Democratic White House hopeful Barack Obama's inexperience in foreign affairs, a key line of attack used by the Illinois senator's rivals.

"He didn't have a lot of experience in running a presidential campaign, did he? But he seems to know how to organize the task," Powell said in an interview with ABC News.

"He doesn't have experience at the senior levels of national government. But I've seen other individuals who have come along that didn't have that breadth of experience," Powell said.

The extent of Powell's remaining influence among US voters is not clear, as he is one of the figures most associated with the decision to wage war in Iraq, despite his well known qualms about...