(AFP) – Dec 28, 2007

STORY CITY, Iowa (AFP) — Hillary Clinton Friday called for an independent, international probe into Benazir Bhutto's murder, as the turmoil wracking US anti-terror ally Pakistan reshaped debate in the White House race.

The Democratic front-runner's intervention came amid rising criticism from the 2008 field of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and Bush administration tactics in the war on terror and failure to neutralize Al-Qaeda.

"We need an international, independent investigation into the death of Benazir Bhutto," Clinton said during a pell-mell campaign swing through Iowa, which kicks off party nominating contests on Thursday.

The assassination of the former Pakistani premier was the kind of sudden, outside event with the potential to quickly roil presidential campaign plans, and revived the issues of national security and experience in the 2008 race.

An unanswered question was how the shockwaves would play out in the minds of voters in Iowa, which kicks off the party nominating season with caucuses next Thursday, and New Hampshire, which has primary elections on January 8.

Bhutto's murder, and a story of its political impact, was splashed Friday across the only statewide newspaper in Iowa, but it was unclear if fallout would remain a key issue over the New Year holiday.

Veteran Republican Senator John McCain, among hopefuls taking the chance to bolster his national security credentials, earlier called for extreme care in US dealings with Pakistan.

"We want to do everything we can, but it has to be practical and it has to be achievable, and it has to be not opening another front in a war that we are overstressed with today," McCain said on Fox News.

The former Vietnam war hero called for looming Pakistani elections to go forward, though he said it would be tough for the opposition to coalesce around a candidate other than Bhutto.

McCain's Republican rival Mitt Romney raised doubts over whether Musharraf could keep a lid on political unrest.

"I'm not concerned about the quality of his character, but I am concerned about the quality of his judgment in a setting like this," Romney said, and dismissed suggestions foreign policy fears could bolster rivals with more experience on the international stage.

Clinton paid a personal tribute to the former Pakistani prime minister, and also turned on Musharraf, saying he had failed both to usher Pakistan towards democracy, and to crush Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

"It is also clear the Bush policy of giving Musharraf a blank check has failed," Clinton said, adding a Bhutto death probe could mirror the UN inquiry into the killing of Lebanese ex-prime minister Rafiq Hariri in 2005.

Musharraf signed up to the US anti-terror battle under fierce US pressure after the September 11 attacks in 2001 -- but has since been a punching bag for US politicians who complain he is not doing enough and going too slow to restore democracy.

The crisis also provoked a tussle between Clinton and top Democratic rival Barack Obama, whose top strategist Thursday highlighted Clinton's 2002 Senate vote to authorize war in Iraq -- which he said had boosted Al-Qaeda, a suspect in Bhutto's murder.

Former NATO commander Wesley Clark, a Clinton backer, complained it was a time for "leadership not politics."

"Senator Obama's campaign seems to believe that Senator Clinton's actions led to the tragic events in Pakistan. This is an incredible and insulting charge," he said.

Obama, campaigning in Williamsburg, Iowa, said Washington should cut military aid to Pakistan until Musharraf embraced democracy, and said the US invasion of Iraq was a distraction from the "war on terror."

"We've got to reverse policies, but we've got to see this in a bigger context which is that our invasion of Iraq resulted in us taking our eye off the ball," Obama said.

"We should have been focused in Afghanistan, finishing off Al-Qaeda."

Former United Nations ambassador Bill Richardson, a Democratic candidate, called for a halt to US aid to Pakistan until Musharraf left office and full democracy was restored.

"Not one penny more ... until Musharraf is gone and the rule of law is restored," he said.

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