Biden calls Bush admin policy on Iran "dangerous" and "mindless"

[jillan]

He said a military strike would only set back Iran's suspected nuclear weapons program by 18 months or two years, and would backfire by weakening US allies in Afghanistan and Pakistan, radicalizing the Muslim world, and uniting the Iranian government behind their leader.

"This is a mindless, mindless approach to dealing with proliferation," he said.

Biden voted last month against a Senate resolution that declared the Iranian Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization. It passed 76 to 22, but Clinton was the only presidential candidate to vote for it. Her vote became a major campaign issue that was rekindled Thursday when the Bush administration announced stricter economic sanctions against Iran.

Biden said the resolution handed the president a justification for attacking Iran, declaring "I have zero faith" in Bush's judgment. Based on about 15 to 17 hours spent with the president, Biden said, "he is a lot brighter than most people think, but he is absolutely driven by his instincts and not by his knowledge, the knowledge base of what the hell we're dealing with."

The "saving grace" in the Bush administration, Biden said, is Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, who he believes has set a "red line" against military action unless the Iranian regime attacks US forces.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/10/27/biden_slams_bushs_strategy_on_tehran/

the rest of the article is about other issues and how he is beginning to see the 'sunlite' in his campaign.

[Think82]

1. Kick!

[lyonn]

2. How about the Boston Globe!! An hour and half interview.....

"In a 90-minute question-and-answer session with Globe editors and reporters, the Delaware senator also spoke confidently about competing for the Democratic presidential nomination despite his single-digit showing in current polls, suggested the candidacies of rivals Barack Obama and John Edwards might be fading, and warned that putting Hillary Clinton on the ticket would make the 2008 election more difficult for the Democratic Party."

They have done several good articles on Biden.

[Tom Rinaldo]

3. This is why I supported Gates as the best we could get at the time

Gotta look at the big picture, and Biden does. Thank's Joe for being a voice of sanity on Iran.

[amandabeech]

4. Biden's definitely on my list now.

He's done some things with bankruptcy and corp finance that I don't like, but if he can beat the pubbies and keep us out of more trouble overseas, I'll forgive him.

I also like Edwards and Kucinich. Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Dodd vote for Kyle-Lieberman? If he didn't, he's okay, too.

[Tom Rinaldo]

5. Dodd did not vote for Kyle - Lieberman...

Dodd voted against it. However he and Obama both sponsored a resolution in the Senate earlier this year that did not make it to a vote which also labled Iran's Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization.

[amandabeech]

6. Thanks for the info.

I don't support labeling any Iranian groups as terrorists right now, even if some were to be.

The label just inflames things, IMHO, and gives Bush that proverbial inch, as John Edwards has pointed out.

I like Dodd, otherwise, though. To me, Obama needs more seasoning, even though his has more overall legislative experience than Edwards. I can't put my finger on why, though. I think that Obama will be a better candidate by 2012 (if we're unlucky) or 2016 (if we aren't), though, and I'll give him a serious look then.


edit: dates.

[PatSeg]

9. It is dangerous to be labeling any government military

as a terrorist group. By their standards Blackwater could be called a terrorist group.

[amandabeech]

11. Agreed. Mercenary terrorists, the worst kind. n/t

[gateley]

24. And Biden was the only one of the candidates who voted against it, if I recall

correctly.

Edit to clarify this is the statement I'm responding to

Dodd voted against it. However he and Obama both sponsored a resolution in the Senate earlier this year that did not make it to a vote which also labled Iran's Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

7. God blass Joe. A candidate I can feel warm about, not just "satisfied"

[kad7777]

8. Thanx for the post Pirhana

As all Biden supporters know...he's the best America has.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=OtGCaqOdIJ4

[PatSeg]

10. Here's another quote from the article

"I have zero faith" in Bush's judgment. Based on about 15 to 17 hours spent with the president, Biden said, "he is a lot brighter than most people think, but he is absolutely driven by his instincts and not by his knowledge, the knowledge base of what the hell we're dealing with."

Biden really has him pegged, doesn't he?

[IndianaGreen]

12. Happy to K&R your thread to the Greatest Page

People need to see that Biden tells it like it is, no bullshit, no triangulation. Biden and Chris Dodd had the maturity and integrity to vote against the horrible Kyl-Lieberman. Hillary voted for it.

[jillan]

14. Someone suggested Biden's campaign slogan should be -

"No Bullshit from Biden".

[Think82]

17. it was

Joe Biden: No Bullshit

or we could clean it up:

Joe Biden: no B.S.

thanks for remembering!

[jillan]

18. That's what it was! When I posted that, I knew it wasn't right,

I love it!

[Auntie Bush]

23. Me too, it;s perfect and an attention getter too. No one would ignore that. nt

[Kurovski]

13. K&R. (nt)

[Auntie Bush]

15. Good for Biden...tells em like it is! Too damn bad he isn't doing better in the polls.

I'd like him for VP if Clark doesn't get/take the job. Obama would also make a good VP and then be ready for the next presidency in 2016

[Sparkly]

16. I agree -- he's the one I could imagine coming from the back of the pack...

Last election I was wondering why Kerry wasn't doing better at this point.

This time I'm wondering why Biden isn't doing better.

(Not that I'm a great predictor of anything!! I couldn't believe the GOP ever nominated the Chimp.)

[Auntie Bush]

21. That;'s WHY they nominated him...BECAUSE he was a CHIMP!

You can train a monkey to do any thing with enough effort. The Neo-CONS and Christian Right jumped right in there and filled that empty space between those big ears with all their filthy, evil, selfish, stupid ideas and then they overflowed right out his big lying mouth. Now that all the filth had spouted out for 6 years...his head is empty again! Now he has no ability/brains to think of a solution for the Iraq war...so he just keeps on bungling through Iraq and history till him term runs out and shoves the problem into someone else's lap while he goes off to Crawford to chop brush (the only thing he's ever done successfully in his whole life) and if the world court indites him for war crimes...he and all his guilty war-rich buddies will move to Paraguay and make billions selling fresh water to thirsty countries (and we may be one of them)... unless Paraguay also declares him a war criminal.

Then when he isn't welcome anywhere in the whole world he'll take matters into his own hands...except he's probably too much of a stupid coward to do that successfully and we'll have to use our precious tax dollars to pay for him on life support for the next 40 years. We just can't win! He's the devil's own favorite son!

[gateley]

19. He's also thinking about our relationship with Pakistan - beyond Iraq and Iran.

The big picture. He gets it better than any other candidate, and that's crucial at this time.

[democrat2thecore]

20. Joe Biden: A pillar of true American liberalism - He'd make a great president. -nt

[Arkana]

22. Joe Biden certainly does have a way with words.

...and I deeply admire him for that.

Unfortunately, it's also why he can never be President.

[gateley]

25. At this time, that may be just why he CAN be President. People want the truth. nt

[youthere]

26. Kicking for Joe.

[murbley40]

28. Kicking!

[youthere]

27. kick