Biden: His Time (in Iowa City)

From the Press-Citizen

Delaware senator Joe Biden said Sunday at an Iowa City event that he believes in honesty [this contrasts with the Joe Biden of 1988 who freely, some would say, dishonestly, used British Labor Party leader Neil Kinnock's speech without attribution as his own words], even if it costs him the 2008 Democratic bid for president.

Biden, one of the few Democrats who supported a recent $94.7 million [actually, P-C, its "billion" as in $94,700,000,000] war funding bill, spoke before a crowd of nearly 200 at a Johnson County Democrats event. Holding anti-war signs to protest their disappointment. Members of the University of Iowa Anti-War Committee also were in attendance.

"Whether you think it's a good idea or a bad idea, there is an overall imperative that when we send our child to war we send them with the best technology we have available," said Biden, who stood on a table at a shelter in Lower City Park.

On Thursday, the U.S. House and Senate passed a bill that provides $3.2 million [Actually it is "billion" and Bush asked for it] more than the president requested to fund troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"We're here to tell him that he let us down," said UI Anti-War Committee member Ronald Kinum, 58.

However, Biden maintains that although there shouldn't be a U.S. presence in Iraq, soldiers still deserve to be protected. The 34-year veteran of the Senate also is calling for the building of Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles that he said will reduce the number of casualties by two-thirds.

Biden's stop in Iowa City is part of a campaign tour that includes six days in Iowa. Biden, a chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he has the experience and the plan to pull troops from Iraq.

"I am the only one -- whether you agree with me or not -- with a plan," he said.

The plan calls for Iraq to be become a federal system with three autonomous regions run by Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish groups and a strong but limited central government in Baghdad. Biden said he called for a special international conference on the proposal with leaders of the United Nations Security Council -- China, France, Russia and the United Kingdom -- and the response was supportive across the board.

"This war is unnecessary, and we can end it without leaving the country at a mess," Biden said.

But it is a mess. And it is a mess of our government's creation.

Here's a thought, Joe, why not Iraq decide what is best for Iraq? It seems to me that the last thing that would be welcomed by any faction of Iraqis is for the US to tell them how to function as a sovereign nation. Perhaps if the UN or even the Arab League were acting as go-betweens, a more successful outcome could happen. And, if the US is to be part of any "after Saddam" strategy, it would help if we were not keeping our army there as, yes, an occupying force. Perhaps a UN peacekeeeping force would be a better choice than the fragmented remains of the coalition of the willing.

The timing of this speech leaves a lot to be desired. It's Memorial Day, I hope Sen. Biden and all of our nation's leaders will spend some time in one of the many cemeteries commemorating the senseless loss of life that this war and their decisions have wrought.