In dissent, Biden does his job

[gateley]

<snip>
Biden made a distinctive contribution to the decision-making process regarding Afghanistan. He challenged the assumptions behind Gen. Stanley McChrystal's request for 40,000 additional troops, sought to define American objectives and questioned whether a corrupt Afghanistan government could provide a reliable partner. In so doing, he forced a fuller examination of all aspects of America's involvement in Afghanistan and helped produce a plan that addressed those concerns.

Vice presidents have not always been able to play such a role. Franklin Roosevelt never told Vice President Harry Truman of efforts to build an atomic weapon. Lyndon Johnson barred Hubert Humphrey from discussions of Vietnam after Humphrey expressed dissenting views.

That pattern changed during Jimmy Carter's administration. Mondale proposed that the vice president serve as a senior presidential adviser. He thought he could offer Carter the advice of an experienced politician whose perspectives were not biased by responsibilities for any particular department.

<snip> Many don't always do it well. Vice President George H.W. Bush was largely silent during discussions of trading arms to Iran for the release of hostages during the Reagan administration. Dick Cheney often obtained President George W. Bush's agreement following private meetings rather than making sure presidential decisions followed an airing of competing views.

Biden, however, played a more critically useful part. He has emerged as the primary questioner of McChrystal's request for additional troops in Afghanistan and probed many dimensions of the challenges in the region during administration discussions.

Why was America spending 30 times as much in Afghanistan as in Pakistan, which has a nuclear arsenal and where al-Qaida has moved?

Could the United States expect success given corruption in President Hamid Karzai's government? How would the United States measure success? What was the exit plan?

Biden's questions may have reflected his misgivings about America's effort in Afghanistan. But his prodding also demonstrated the unique ability of a vice president to help ensure that presidential decisions are based on a full consideration of competing perspectives.

So Vice President Biden didn't lose on Afghanistan. He did his job, and in doing so, he helped President Obama do his.

Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=876735&category=OPINION#ixzz0ZOlHuLVT

I thought it was interesting to see the roles some former VPs did -- and didn't -- play in their administration. Any POTUS needs all the help and opinions s/he can get to better understand an issue, and I'm grateful this President apparently thinks so, too.

[blm]

1. Typical Bush-protecting revisionism. IranContra was Poppy Bush's operation

along with BCCI dealings and Reagan was the one underinformed and mostly out of the loop.

[gateley]

2. Good point about Reagan - It's my sense he merely believed what he was told

and put his stamp on it.

[hootinholler]

3. I thought HW negotiated the arms for hostages deal

Before the election?

-Hoot

[blm]

4. yep - but corpmedia is NOT ALLOWED to mention that type of fact....Poppy prefers

to be thought of as a harmless character who was 'out of the loop', a wallflower with no say over anything.