Obama's views worries some in military

WASHINGTON, Feb. 26 (UPI) -- Sen. Barack Obama's military views shouldn't worry some members of the U.S. military and defense establishment, his supporters say.

The U.S. senator from Illinois is the front-runner to be the Democratic Party's nominee for president, and members of the military and defense camps have expressed concern about his lack of experience in national security, The Washington Times said. His supporters say Obama believes in a strong military.

"Any military person who concludes he's a left-wing, hair-on-fire, 'Kumbaya' child of the '60s has sadly 'misunderestimated' him, to use George Bush's term," retired U.S. Air Force Gen. Merrill McPeak said.

Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Thomas McInerney said some conservative retired military leaders are concerned about Obama's "apparent lack of understanding on the threat of radical Islam to the United States."

Lawrence Korb, a Center for American Progress military analyst and one of Obama's national security advisers, said he believed the candidate would be good, the Washington newspaper reported.

"I think the job of the commander in chief is to listen to all of the inputs he gets and then have a sense of world history and the way the world works and to be able to apply the advice he gets from his military people," Korb said.