Anti-surge comments off Obama's Web site

WASHINGTON, July 16 (UPI) -- Barack Obama's initial opposition to the surge of U.S. troops in Iraq is gone from the likely Democratic nominee's Web site, a review of the site indicated.

When U.S. President George Bush ordered the surge in January 2007, Obama, a U.S. senator from Illinois, said he wasn't persuaded the additional military personnel "is going to solve the sectarian violence there" and would have the opposite effect. Recently, however, he acknowledged the surge helped reduce violence but said he was still is of the opinion that political progress hasn't been made.

Media outlets noticed Tuesday that Obama's campaign Web site no longer listed the surge as part of "The Problem" among defense issues included on the site, the Los Angeles Times reported.

An Obama spokeswoman said the deletion was part of a site update to "reflect changes in current events," that includes a new section on the rise of al-Qaida violence in Afghanistan.