Activists: Obama Cabinet picks backed war

WASHINGTON, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- Most of the top candidates to serve in U.S. President-elect Barack Obama's Cabinet supported the war in Iraq in some way, activists say.

Liberal activists, along with anti-war groups, say some of those officials being eyed for security posts under the Obama administration supported a 2002 resolution giving U.S. President George W. Bush the right to invade Iraq, the Los Angeles Times said Thursday.

Iraq Veterans Against the War executive director Kelly Dougherty said activists are concerned with the possible selection of U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates for vital roles in Obama's Cabinet due to their past support of the war.

Dougherty also said the possible inclusion of such politicians goes against the anti-war platform that Obama ran during his presidential campaign.

"Obama ran his campaign around the idea the war was not legitimate, but it sends a very different message when you bring in people who supported the war from the beginning," she told the Times.

The newspaper said Obama has already recognized some of his supporters would dislike some of his Cabinet choices, but said his decision would not be altered by such opposition.