Joe Biden has it right about Bush's troops "surge" in Iraq...

[kentuck]

It is seldom that I agree with Joe Biden. However, he has the right response to Bush's plan to send more troops into Iraq. The Democratic Party would be wise to listen and follow his advice. So would the Republicans...
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2006/12/26/biden-i-will-fight-bush-_n_37160.html

<snip>


Sen. Joseph Biden (news, bio, voting record), the incoming chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he will fight President Bush if the administration decides to send more U.S. troops to Iraq.

Biden, who has his eye on the Democratic presidential nomination, also warned that if congressional Republicans do not join him in speaking out against Bush that they -- not Democrats -- will suffer in the 2008 elections.

[hijinx87]

1. good to see a laspe into sanity.

from the senior senator from MBNA.

[MrModerate]

2. Right, let's add 30,000 more targets, because . . .

There's not enough American troops to go around for all the IEDs that've been assembled.

Sure, that makes sense.

I'm with Biden on this one. And I think he's the sort of politician who needs to stay in the Senate and not ablate his poltical chits with a likely-to-fail run at the White House.

Of course, I've been surprised before.

[Captain Hilts]

3. How many divisions does MBNA have? nt

[Nite Owl]

4. Scarey, he's been making sense lately

His plan for Iraq was very sensible too, sort of United States of Iraq with each region setting their own laws but sharing in the oil revenues. Hard to really like the guy, I think he loves himself more than anyone else ever could.

[Ninja Jordan]

5. I'd give Biden more credence if I could believe he wasn't doing this merely for political gain.

[hayu_lol]

6. Joe Biden is like a broken clock...

he has to be right at least once a day.

Nice to see Biden acting alive...where have you been for the past 6 years Joe?

He used to hide in the Rose Garden with Daschle and Geppy and Lieberman.

[karynnj]

7. We need all the Senators we can get on this side

If you believe that the surge would be a disaster - which people like Abizaid (before the Senate Armed Services Committee) were saying, as well as people like Senators Kerry and Dodd - then this is the moral, correct position. If it is best politicly as well - that is irrelevant.

[hijinx87]

10. ultimately, his motivation is irrelevant.

if his presidential ambition causes him to do the right
thing -- including driving hard hitting, aggressive
senate investigations -- then so be it; this will be
one of the few times that the the ends justify the means.

and yes, I realize that this is brazenly conniving and
unprincipled point of view. I don't care about that, either.

[TayTay]

8. This is very good news.

Sen. Biden has announced 3 weeks on hearings into the Iraq War by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC) starting on Jan 9th. So far, no Democrat on that committee has come out in favor of the increase in troops for Baghdad or Iraq as a whole.

These should be some damn interesting hearings. Biden has asked for Condileeza Rice, SecofState to appear before the committee to answer questions about the situation on the ground in Iraq and about Admin plans going forward. It's nice to know that the Dems who will be questioning her are all roughly on the same page as regards troop strength.

[zulchzulu]

9. Biden is a paper tiger....watch his final vote

Biden always puts on a good show in the beginning, but then he tends to jump to the other side finger-wagging that Bush "better behave".

I will be very surprised if he actually puts up a strong fight against "the surge" with his final vote.

[gratuitous]

11. Some questions about the "surge"

First, in what universe does it make sense to look at the results of the 2006 election and decide that what the American people want is more clustering and harder fucking in Iraq?

Laying that one aside, how long will the "surge" last? Two weeks? Three months? Ten years? Because of its temporary nature, announced prior to its implementation, our adversaries in Iraq know that all they have to do is lay low until the heat's off. When the "surge" recedes, they'll come out again in force, fortified by their time off, having accumulated more and deadlier weapons, and done some work shoring up their financing and recruiting.

What is the purpose of this surge? We don't seem to be doing a real good job of identifying the enemy right now in Iraq. Will more troops cause our adversaries to come out more openly, or will they hunker down until it blows over? The administration's answers to these questions will go a long way toward telling us whether this is just another ploy or an actual strategic step. I'm guessing it's a ploy, designed to make the Democrats look "weak" if they don't sign on, or to kick the inevitable day of reckoning another six months down the road until the Bushistas can think up another stalling tactic.

The Democrats owe it to the American people and to the men and women overseas to demand some answers.

[TayTay]

12. Some answers to your questions from the neocons

Larry Johnson's blog, No Quarter, had a copy of a powerpoint presentation that says what the neocons want. http://noquarter.typepad.com/my_weblog/2006/12/stalingrad_on_t.html

You can read this PP at: http://turcopolier.typepad.com/sic_semper_tyrannis/files/200612141_choosingvictory6.pdf


This is NOT a Democratic plan. (Well, maybe Lieberman.) The answers to your questions will probably not be found at a liberal Democratic site such as DU. Most people here are opposed to the surge and the logic that created this proposal.

[hadrons]

13. sounds like the "surge" will happen ....

and Biden's getting set to either 1) point out how right he was for 2008 or 2) grandstanding and quietly go along with it later and hope everyone remembers these comments instead of the vote

[blm]

14. Good - but he knew last year that troops needed to withdraw and refused to back up

Kerry and Feingold, and even lied about the bill and said there was no diplomatic component to it, which was a nationally televised LIE from Biden.