A top Obama foreign policy adviser who drew criticism for past statements on Israel quit the campaign over an unrelated controversy.
Samantha Power quit the presidential campaign of U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) Friday over a recent interview in which she described his rival, U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) as a “monster.”
“Last Monday, I made inexcusable remarks that are at marked variance from my oft-stated admiration for Sen. Clinton and from the spirit, tenor, and purpose of the Obama campaign,” Power said in a statement obtained by the TalkingPointsMemo Web site.
Power, a leading expert on genocide, had advised Obama as senator for two years and her work on the topic is widely admired in the Jewish community, particularly for how she exposes non-intervention during the Holocaust.
However, she also angered some in the pro-Israel community for her withering criticism of how Israel handled the Lebanon war and its occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, going so far as to accuse Israel of war crimes.
