Obama: More NATO troops help U.S. economy

BERLIN, July 25 (UPI) -- America's NATO allies are crucial in fighting terror in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as easing economic troubles at home, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama said Friday.

Greater involvement from NATO allies in the Afghan and Iraqi theaters mean potentially fewer U.S troops in either place for the long term, the likely Democratic presidential nominee told CNN while in Berlin before traveling to France.

"(Which) means we're spending fewer billions of dollars, which means we can invest those billions of dollars in making sure we're providing tax cuts to middle-class families who are struggling with higher gas prices ... that will have an impact on our economy," he said.

The Illinois senator is on the European leg of his multination fact-finding visit. Obama and Sens. Jack Reed, D-R.I., and Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., has visited Afghanistan, Kuwait, Iraq, Jordan, Israel and the West Bank, and Germany. After visiting to France, the senators will travel to Britain.

Obama, the likely Democratic presidential nominee, said his trip wasn't meant as a poke at President George Bush's foreign policy.

"(We) have one government at a time," he told CNN. "(When) public officials like myself, who are not the president, travel overseas ... we are not in the business of spending all our time second-guessing our president."