Iraq moving toward Biden's controversial vision-Power being decentralized on its own

Iraq moving toward Biden's controversial vision
Power being decentralized on its own


Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden greeted supporters after a rally at the United Mine Workers of America, District 17's 13th Annual Fish Fry at the Russell County Fairgrounds in Castlewood, Va., yesterday. (Don Petersen/Associated Press)
By Bryan Bender
Globe Staff / September 21, 2008


WASHINGTON - In May 2006, at the height of the violence in Iraq, Senator Joe Biden floated a controversial proposal: carve out autonomous regions for the three main ethnic and religious groups - Kurds, Sunni Arabs, and Arab Shi'ites - and give them control of most governmental functions except for the military and oil industry, which would remain under central authority.

Biden, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, eventually pushed through a congressional resolution backing such a federal system in Iraq, but the plan was resisted by most Iraqi leaders and many Middle East specialists who said it would break up the country and fuel more violence.

Two and a half years later, as Biden runs for vice president, his prescription remains a key component of his claim to foreign policy expertise - and a talking point for Republicans who question his judgment. Senator John McCain's presidential campaign insists that Biden "has been soundly proven wrong by the surge strategy" championed last year by the GOP candidate.

Biden, however, still insists that his approach is the right one and has convinced his running mate, Senator Barack Obama, of its merits.

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http://www.boston.com/news/politics/2008/articles/2008/09/21/iraq_moving_toward_bidens_controversial_vision/

:-)

If this works for them now, that's fine by me. But at the time I was against any politician pushing their solutions on a country that wasn't interested.

Sarah Palin is so, so, so outclassed by Joe Biden. It's almost pathetic.

I'm very proud of our Vice Presidential nominee. He will bring a wealth of experience to the Obama Administration.