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Obama: World wants U.S. to lead


Published: May 8, 2008 at 8:55 PM
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WASHINGTON, May 8 (UPI) -- Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama said Thursday he wants to improve the United States' influence in the world.

"The world wants to see the United States lead," the junior U.S. senator from Illinois told CNN. "They've been disappointed and disillusioned over the last seven, eight years.

"I think there is still a sense everywhere I go that if the United States regains its sense of who it is and our values and our ideals, that we will continue to set the tone for a more peaceful and prosperous world."

Obama said the war in Iraq has kept the United States from addressing some domestic problems, including climate change and the economy.

"It's very hard for us to do that when we're spending close to $200 billion a year in other countries, rebuilding those countries instead of focusing on making ourselves strong," he said.

Obama won the North Carolina primary by 14 points Tuesday, while Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York won Indiana by 2 points.

Although political observers have generally concluded Obama has effectively won the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, Clinton has promised to continue campaign and Obama has declined to claim the nomination is his.

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PALESTINIAN COMMEMORATE CATASTROPHE DAY
A Palestinian refugee Mohamad Harb 85 year Old . shows his old house keys from his former village as a symbol of hope that his may return his one day on May 12, 2008 in his Rafah refugee camp which is located within the Gaza Strip. Harb used to live in the village of Hmamh before his family was forced to immigrate to the Gaza Strip in 1948. After sixty years Harb has hope of returning to his old village which is now in Israeli territory and is named Kreat Hmamh. Traditionally Palestinians commemorate May 15th as Nakba Day or Catastrophe Day, the day the Israeli State was created in 1948.(UPI Photo/Ismael Mohamad)
Traditionally Palestinians commemorate May 15th as Catastrophe Day
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