Joe Biden: The Surge Is A Failure

WASHINGTON — A leading Democrat on Saturday declared last year's troop buildup in Iraq a failure. Sen. Joe Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the military push didn't succeed because U.S. troops remain committed there in large numbers and political reconciliation has not been achieved. "The purpose of the surge was to bring violence in Iraq down so that its leaders could come together politically," said Biden, D-Del., in this week's Democratic radio address. "Violence has come down, but the Iraqis have not come together." He later added, "There is little evidence the Iraqis will settle their differences peacefully any time soon." Biden offered an early rebuttal to next week's testimony by Gen. David Petraeus, the top military commander in Iraq, and Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador there. Petraeus and Crocker are expected to say the recent buildup in troops has succeeded in improving security. But they also likely will say that a period of assessment is needed this summer before officials can decide whether troop withdrawals can continue. Democrats have called this approach unacceptable and said they would pursue an alternative policy through legislation. They said their focus will be on restoring the strength of the Army and Marines and refocusing the nation's resources on fighting terrorists in Afghanistan. "I believe the president has no strategy for success in Iraq," Biden said. "His plan is to muddle through, and hand the problem off to his successor." Republicans say they are satisfied with the recent drop in violence and that more time is needed to improve the situation there.

Comments

[jqcitizen]

Sen. Biden, I certainly hope that Amb. Crocker and Gen. Patreaus will either confirm or deny the words of the ambassadors of Jordan and Syria. They both made it clear, on C-Span yesterday (Fri. Apr. 4) that their countries are being inundated by refugees from Iraq.

It seemed to me that only those that have the wherewithal to go to Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, Jordan,...­... are doing so. Only the poor citizens and GI's are forced to stay. Rip-off contractors think this Surge is great, as do the foreign banks that fund it.

[IngeniousGirl]

and when Bush and Cheney went to visit recently in Iraq, guess who was assigned to protect them? oh come on you all know, Blackwater, as reportedly quipped Frank Prince, who wants the post office when you can get FedEx.

Why do Bush and Cheney disrespect our soldiers? Use them up on 15 month tour after tour, not only is the surge not working it really wasn't their end game, they wanted to sew up the oil contracts period. Perhaps Bush and Cheney have realized their goals.

I say forget immunity for Telecoms, which would deny immunity to Bush Cheney et al, bring the troops home soon, they are exhausted, and do some deep digging into all the theft and graft and corruption which these contractors have stolen from the US Treasury.

[JonBFertippton]

bla bla bla.....

[BlueStateMan]

Nice vocabulary you have there, skippy.

[IngeniousGirl]

Time has done a well researched and probing article how our military is broken.
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1606888,00.html

Senator Biden: What about the money going to Blackhawk and gang, why does the State department reup with them, why is that money not going to our Military?

Why did Bush and Cheney use Blackwater as their security while in Iraq? I've heard this has caused a tremendous amount of anger, cynicism and disgust with the Army especially the rumor going around that Prince likes to say why use the Post Office if you can use FedEx.

I've even heard that Bush has replaced secret service with Blackwater I'm not sure this is true or can be confirmed, but the privatization of an army, especially one starting a new company offshore is disturbing, and obviously diverts funds from our own military to contractors who make 4-5 times more than the solider next to them on the ground, and lures soldiers away for many reasons, not the least of which is the fact that average pay for a single solider annually is about $25,000.

Senator Biden. Why should our sons and daughters risk their lives when our leaders think to little of them?

[Raymondf]

Almost snuck it by you , I'm not going away.LOL

[HumeSkeptic]

Where would you go? I hear that most lunatic asylums are full.

[missinginminnesota]

Yes, the surge is a failure...­.all you have to do is tune into Amy Goodman on Pacifica Radio and DemocracyNow.org and you will see what real journalism looks like!!!

[transendentilist]

In the future, historians will refer to this as the Great Six Month War. That's what we've been hearing for 5 years now. We just need another six months to properly assess the situation.
How many times have we granted bush ......"jus­t six more months, that's all we need.? And then there is Rumsfeld's sales pitch at the outset....­"This war will last, six days, six weeks, but I doubt six months."

[Raymondf]

The surge did work no matter what biden says.

[transendentilist]

Really? How so?

[mouselion]

It's given the war profiteers more time to clean the Americans' and Iraqis' pockets.

[robodweeb]

Right.

Return on success.

And when the Iraqi army heard that it was a success they returned. Home.

[JimSAC]

The intent of the surge was to give the Iraqis an opportunity to develop political stability. This has not occurred. There has been a decrease in violence but this is more to do with Sadr calling for a ceasefire than from our troops. The success is an illusion.

[BlueStateMan]

How so?

Please be SPECIFIC (no talking points, no conjecture­... just FACTS).

[JohnKemp]

Did "Clean" Joe write this speech himself, or did he "borrow" it?

[HumeSkeptic]

The topic is Iraq war.

[FirstForty]

You must be quite pure to cast the first stone.

[BlueStateMan]

This.... coming from Koresch's regurgitator.

[forpeace]

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"Real" - Brian McGough

http://votevets.org/video?id=0011

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[Raymondf]

I'm back and Biden is an Idiot also.

[mouselion]

Hey, quit lumping the good senator in with yourself.

[mach]

“We daily see the gross distortions. We can’t recognize the caricatures they [the media] scratch out, neither in our fellow soldiers, nor on the battleground. I know they claim to be objective but really they’re nothing more than accomplices in the face of this evil.” —First Sergeant Jeff Nuding, U.S. Army

[HumeSkeptic]

Iraq Veterans Against the War

http://www.ivaw.org/

[mach]

“What angers and hurts me as a soldier is that they parade their anti-war views in the face of my brothers and sisters who are recovering from the same battlefield that I fought on and am still fighting on as I type this e-mail. Is there no honor or dignity left in the antiwar movement? Do they have no shame? Do they have no integrity? Do they have no heart? Do they have no soul? I can answer that with a simple no! How can they say they support the troops but protest where they try to recover from war? You interviewed one gentleman, and I use that term loosely, who stated ‘If I was injured I would want someone to speak for me like this.’ Well let me tell him something, we do not want you to speak for us and we do not need you to speak for us!” —Sergeant Mark Leach, U.S. Army

[hopein]

Once a mistake is made a real hero admits it. One can support the troops and still be against an illegal and poorly managed fiasco.

[ChimpmasterDJ]

I hope Sgt Mark Leach survives his mission and returns safely home to get a little older and a little wiser and begin to understand how he was cynically and criminally ill-used by his adored "commander in chief".

[HumeSkeptic]

Iraq Veterans Against the War

http://www.ivaw.org/

[FirstForty]

I respect soldiers. My father shed blood in Italy. Supporting the troops and supporting the war are two different things. This war is a waste and thowing more souls into it does not make the losses other have accepted worthwhile.

[CarolinaDem]

Your very understandable and passionate attitude is the very strongest evidence for the anti-war principles of restraint, caution and determination to avoid war at high cost (not all). Once it starts the visceral duties of loyalty to tribe and leader utterly outweigh the less emotive ideals of justice and truth-seeking, and the grief of those who lose the most psychologically and spiritually requires the consolation of a shared vengeance, including the repudiation of all that did not share in the loss. War is inflicted upon your own country, not just your enemy's, and your military are the carriers of its painful disordering impact. We have to spare no expense in providing soldiers with honor, attention, respect for their feelings, and means of what we must let them define as 'recovery'; but we cannot forget that what has won them our eternal honor has not made them better qualified than others to judge the merit of the duties we face. Best wishes, Sergeant!

[mach]

A real hero speaks:

“Every day, the enemy changes…only now, the enemy is becoming something new. The enemy is transitioning from the Muslim extremists to Americans. The enemy is becoming the very people whom we defend with our lives. And they do not realize it. But in denouncing our actions, denouncing our leaders, denouncing the war we live and fight, they are isolating the military from society…and they are becoming our enemy. Terrorists cut the heads off of American citizens on the Internet…and there is no outrage but an American soldier kills an Iraqi in the midst of battle, and there are investigations, and sometimes soldiers are even jailed…for doing their job…It is absolutely sickening to me to think our country has come to this.” —Sergeant Eddie Jeffers, U.S. Army

[forpeace]

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Forget about McCane and Hillary.

I voted for Obama, but looking back at History and American Foreign Policy, it makes it so hard to believe that America will leave Iraq any time soon!

........ but we can always Hope for Change.

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[ChimpmasterDJ]

"The surge is a failure"..­. gee... obviating the obvious, are we? And guess what? Water is wet!

[bhobo]

Joe Biden, you are a good man.

[FirstForty]

Biden has the best foreign policy mind there is. I hope to see him heading State.