Biden to Pitch Iraq Exit Plan
Seeks Bush's support in pullout strategy
Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., appears at an International Association of
Firefighters convention
in Portsmouth
on May 11
AP
May 26, 2007
WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. and presidential hopeful Joe Biden,
D-Del., said he has bipartisan support for his Iraq exit strategy plan and will
push the five-part plan following Memorial Day weekend.
"I'm going to push it very hard," Biden told the Herald
this week, "forcing everyone to vote for or against this plan."
The plan, which will come forth in the form of
legislation, calls for the establishment of one Iraq with three autonomous
regions — Shiite, Sunni and Kurd — and a strong but limited central government
in Baghdad. All regions would share oil revenues. The plan also calls for an
international conference on the power-sharing agreement, while U.S. troops are
withdrawn "responsibly."
Lastly, the country would commit to reconstruction
assistance, conditioned on the protection of minority and women's rights and the
creation of a job program to give Iraqi youth an alternative to the militia and
criminal gangs.
Biden said he has the support of fellow presidential
hopeful Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., and Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif. He hopes to
have President Bush's support as well.
Biden, who is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee, said Bush must make the long-term solution to Iraq the world's
problem, not just the United States' problem. He said the president must call
for a United Nations summit to get the world's powers and Iraq's neighbors to
push for a political agreement.
"My dad always said, never back a man into a corner so
the only way he can get past you is over your head," said Biden. "I want to give
the president a way out. We'll see if he's savvy enough to take it."
Also this week, Biden called on the president to make
building and deploying Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles a national
priority. He said there have been significant "unconscionable" delays in getting
the troops protection from roadside bombs, which are responsible for 70 percent
of the casualties in Iraq. MRAPS, he said, can reduce the number of casualties
by two-thirds.
"I've been around a long time, and this is unforgiveable,"
he said. "This is the number one moral imperative when we're talking about
thousands of people being injured because we don't have these."
Biden, who opposes the war, called on every New Hampshire
family with military connections to call their senators and demand better
protection for their sons and daughters.
