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US Senator: Iraq solution dividing the
country into various factions
24.8.2006 |
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Resolving the problems
in Iraq will require separating the various factions
there, with the withdrawal of U.S. troops to come by
2008, U.S. Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., said Wednesday in
the Quad-Cities.
Biden, who has already declared himself a candidate
for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008,
spent the day in the area, meeting with a labor
group and raising money for local political
candidates.
He says the Kurds, Shiites and Sunnis need to have
their own mostly autonomous regions in Iraq, that
reconstruction assistance should be increased to the
country and that most U.S. troops should be
withdrawn by 2008.
Biden said the plan is similar to what was done
during the mid-1990s in Bosnia.
The senator from Delaware, who supported the 2002
resolution authorizing the Iraq War but has been a
critic of the Bush administration’s conduct of it,
said the U.S. presence has crossed the line from
liberation to occupation. “We have become as much a
problem as a solution,” Biden added.
He conceded that even if his plan were put in place,
there still would be a struggle for power, but Biden
said that is “absolutely 1,000 percent better than
our guys getting killed in a civil war.”
The Bush administration has rejected the idea of
regional federations, saying the Iraqis do not
support the idea. |
Joseph R. Biden Jr., Democrat of Delaware, is the
ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee. Leslie H. Gelb is the president emeritus
of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Gov website
Photo: AFP |
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The war in Iraq has been an important issue for Iowa
Democrats, who have been mostly critical. It led to
Howard Dean’s emergence during the 2004 caucuses,
and it is a key topic in the early stages of the
2008 race.
With the war more than three years old, a lot of
Democrats are calling for a quick withdrawal of U.S.
troops.
Alta Price, a Bettendorf physician who opposed going
to war, called Biden’s plan “not unreasonable,” and
conceded that an immediate withdrawal probably is
not feasible. But she said that what peace activists
object to most is continuing on the same path with
no end in sight. “What we’re against is staying the
course,” she added.
Bill Gluba, a former congressional candidate from
Davenport, said the troops need to leave Iraq sooner
than the end of 2007.
Biden, who is the ranking Democrat on the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee, said his experience in
foreign policy sets him apart from others who are
thinking of running for president.
He is spending nearly half of August in Iowa.
This is his second run for the presidency. Biden
dropped out of the 1988 campaign after lifting
portions of a British politician’s speech while
describing his own upbringing.
Republicans reminded reporters of the incident when
Biden returned to the state.
Asked Wednesday what had changed in the nearly 20
years since his first bid, Biden said he is a harder
worker, not as flippant and has learned from the
“serious mistakes” he made, although he did not
specify them.
He told activists at a fundraiser for Illinois
congressional candidate Phil Hare of Rock Island
that while he is running for president, it is more
important for Democrats to win control of Congress
this fall.
Biden said a Congress controlled by the Democratic
Party is needed to dig the country out of the hole
the Bush administration has put it in.
The Delaware senator also raised money for Rep. Jim
Lykam, D-Davenport, and met with members of the
Quad-City Federation of Labor.
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