Biden Says Iraq Requires a 'Rational' Plan
April 22, 2007
Dubuque, Ia. - Delaware senator and
presidential candidate Joe Biden predicted Saturday that within six months,
every one of his Democratic rivals would adopt his position on the war in Iraq.
In front of more than 100 people, Biden spoke passionately about the need for a
middle road between the plans proposed by his Republican and Democratic
counterparts.
"It is the only rational way," said Biden, who proposes a federal system
dividing Iraq into separate states of Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds. "No one can
answer the question that comes next. After you surge, then what? After you cap,
what then?"
Biden said that his plan, coupled with his long record in the U.S. Senate, makes
him the right candidate to step into the office and to immediately take control
of the Iraq war.
"The next president is going to be left with no
margin for error," he said. "We have some time, but not a lot of time. There is
no time for on-the-job training."
Biden, who is making his second run for president after a short-lived campaign
in 1988, was capping a two-day trip in Iowa.å
In a voice that boomed throughout the former church where he was speaking, Biden
also criticized the current administration's foreign policy as a whole.
He repeatedly said the United States needs to focus more on the conflicts in
Darfur and Sudan, revise nuclear policies and be wary of the "totalitarian tilt
of the Soviet Union."
In order to do this, however, the United States first needs to remedy the Iraq
problem, which is like a "great big boulder sitting in the middle of the road,
blocking all traffic."
Biden's remarks went over well with those in attendance, although most admitted
they were still undecided.
"So often Democrats are seen as milquetoast," said Judy Schmidt of Dubuque
following Biden's speech. "Joe Biden is not milquetoast."
Fred Krapfl, also of Dubuque, came away with a similar impression of the
senator.
"The one thing that really struck me was the passion and intellect of that
individual versus the jerk in office right now," he said.
