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RSS icon Comments on Getting Out of Iraq, the View From Iowa, Part 3

1

I wish Biden had charisma. He's the only candidate with actual gravitas, in my estimation. He's by far the most experienced and level-headed of the bunch, with years of experience in foreign policy and real diplomacy. Unfortunately, the man is a maladroit speaker with all the personal magnetism of a bowl of cold oatmeal.

I'm actually a Biden supporter, too. I'm the only one I know.

I find it depressing that the audience applauded only the meaningless sound-bites, not the remarks that actually had substantive content.

Posted by Geni | August 21, 2007 10:58 AM
2

I thought the same thing as Geni - the applause came in response to the B.S., not the substance. Quick encouraging them! But it goes to show what it's all about - duping the public with empty words.

To me, Obama and Edwards look the worst from these transcripts. What the hell does, "Any Democratic president will end this war. That's what we know" mean? I don't know that, actually. And them going on and on about what a mess it is and how there are no good options (um, yeah no shit) tells me that they don't want to propose any substantive plan.

I think I need to look into Biden more... have not really paid attention to him but at least he talks substance...

Posted by Jude Fawley | August 21, 2007 11:07 AM
3

Biden is an intelligent and thoughtful man. He is also a blowhard and one of the most boring politicians I've ever heard; a terrible combination.

I was following the confirmation process of recent Supreme Court justices closely. Biden sits on the Senate Judiciary committee. It was painful to listen to. He would pontificate for most of his time, and rarely get a question in. Totally useless.

He may be a perfectly good senator. Certainly the people of Delaware have reelected him every term since the early 1970s. But he'd make a terrible president.

Posted by SDA in SEA | August 21, 2007 12:16 PM
4

The thing is, Biden is wrong on Iraq. Partionining Iraq isn't a path toward peaceful separation, it's a path to genocide. Separation only works if the groups are actually separate. In reality, despite general trends there are Kurds, Sunnis, and Shia Muslims all over Iraq. There are many smaller ethnic communities, and divisions within and across the simplistic Sunni-Shia-Kurd formula that most people use when thinking and talking about Iraq. The ethnic cleansing already underway is changing that, but there is no uniform ethnic enclave. Forcing a separation by dividing the country will simply accelerate the ethnic violence, particularly as groups fight over the right borders and access to oil resources.

But don't believe me. Read juancole.com, where Professor Cole explains these complexities in detail several times a day.

I don't think it's likely that anything can prevent an acceleration of ethnic killings, and a threat of regional war is always a possibility, but one thing that might help is a just resolution of the distribution of oil revenues. Oddly enough, Republican presidential also-ran Tommy Thompson had a good idea about this. Divide the revenue 1/3 to the 18 provinces, 1/3 to the central government, and 1/3 to individual Iraqis. This gives a stake at all levels of Iraqi society in the stability of their country, and acknowledges regional and local differences without hardening simplistic ethnic categories. That's the basis for building long-term security in the country.

But this kind of solution is political, and our military occupation does nothing to advance a political solution. We need to get our troops out, and in a parallel track, support multi-party regional talks that include equitably dividing oil revenues and getting security guarantees from Iran, Syria, and Saudi Arabia to prevent a regional war. We might just be able to salvage something from our withdrawal.

Of course, with Cheney in charge, this will never ever happen.

Posted by Cascadian | August 21, 2007 1:04 PM
5

On the other hand, as I've said before, I think Biden would be a great Secretary of Defense, managing our military withdrawal from Iraq and getting benefits to veterans. Richardson's the guy I'd like to see at State, spearheading the regional peace talks. Dodd's probably the guy you'd want at Treasury, and doesn't have much to add on Iraq.

So that still leaves us with the Clinton-Obama-Edwards top tier for the presidential slot. I don't think any of them have particularly good plans for Iraq now, but Obama's right that if it's still going on when a Democrat is elected president (in 2008, hopefully) that it's time to order the Joint Chiefs to begin a withdrawal. Of the top three, he's the least mushy and at least opposed the war from the start. On the war, it's advantage Obama.

Posted by Cascadian | August 21, 2007 1:19 PM
6

On the other hand, as I've said before, I think Biden would be a great Secretary of Defense, managing our military withdrawal from Iraq and getting benefits to veterans. Richardson's the guy I'd like to see at State, spearheading the regional peace talks. Dodd's probably the guy you'd want at Treasury, and doesn't have much to add on Iraq.

So that still leaves us with the Clinton-Obama-Edwards top tier for the presidential slot. I don't think any of them have particularly good plans for Iraq now, but Obama's right that if it's still going on when a Democrat is elected president (in 2008, hopefully) that it's time to order the Joint Chiefs to begin a withdrawal. Of the top three, he's the least mushy and at least opposed the war from the start. On the war, it's advantage Obama.

Posted by Cascadian | August 21, 2007 1:24 PM
7

Partititioning is so four years ago - when people like me suggested it. But now it's too late.

Time to leave.

Posted by Will in Seattle | August 21, 2007 2:53 PM
8

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9

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Posted by aiqxp dcgzau | August 28, 2007 5:28 AM

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