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Biden lays out a plan for divide Iraq
1.3.2007 |
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March 1, 2007
HENNIKER – Presidential hopeful Sen. Joe
Biden, D-Delaware, touted his Iraq plan yesterday at
a town meeting-style gathering of about 150
students, professors and area residents at New
England College in Henniker.
Biden proposes separating Iraq into three distinct
regions for the Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds. The
regions would be held together by a federalized
system similar to the Articles of Confederation in
place before the signing of the U.S. Constitution.
Biden, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee, said such a plan would take time and
require at least 15,000 troops to stay in Iraq while
the country moved "over the horizon" to security and
control.
"You must give the parties in Iraq some breathing
room to control the fabric of their daily lives," he
said.
There must also be a way to reallocate oil revenues
to the various geopolitical subdivisions in Iraq,
based on population, to help end sectarian violence,
Biden said.
Thirdly, he said, the United Nations Security
Council should call an international conference
where the five permanent member nations would try to
"convince other countries that federalization is the
answer" in Iraq and "put the pressure of the world
on the region to stay out and abide by this
political settlement." Other troops could then be
redeployed "in a way that they are not handmaidens
of the civil war," Biden said. |
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 |
Because of the false pretenses under which America
went to war in Iraq, Biden said, there are few
options that can now be considered.
"If you listen to our debate about Iraq, you are
offered two false choices, neither one of which is
very good," Biden said. "Either we stay the course
or we leave and see what happens." And because
addressing many domestic issues depends on finding
resolution in Iraq, the next President, "whether
it's a Democrat or a Republican, a man or a woman,
is going to be left by this President with virtually
no margin of error," Biden said. "This is the most
opportune moment to be President of the United
States. The next President has the opportunity to
literally change the direction of the world."
Biden said his Iraq plan would cost about a fifth as
much as the $8.5 billion annually that has been
spent on the war in recent years.
Bill Hatt, 65, is a retired New England College
professor of physics and astronomy. He said that
although he is leaning toward supporting John
Edwards for President, he is intrigued by Biden's
level of experience and his understanding of the
problems in the Middle East. Biden, elected to the
Senate at 29, has served for more than three
decades.
"I mean Iraq is going to be the issue in 2008, bar
none, but whether he can get enough charisma is
another issue," said Hatt, a Bradford resident.
Hatt said he has doubts about Biden's proposal to
divide Iraq.
"Partition is always a very messy solution, and
we've got plenty of examples of that," he said.
Likewise, NEC student Asa Ammarin, a 20-year-old
political science major from Pasadena, Calif., who
currently favors Sen. Barak Obama for the
Presidency, said he's leery about the separation and
federalization of Iraq.
"I hope this won't bring it all down like a ton of
bricks," he said. "I mean, there's already a civil
war going on."
Although Biden stuck mostly to talking about Iraq,
he also suggested changes to the education system.
His proposal would give everyone 14 years of free
education rather than 12, and a $12,000 tax
deduction to those who spend at least that much
annually on higher education.
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