Biden's Disingenuity on Iraq: "Great Accomplishment"?

Vice President Joe Biden told CNN's Larry King on Wednesday night (Feb 10, 2010) that the Iraq pullout could be one of the "great achievements" of the Obama administration.

What? Let me quote it exactly and see if it comes out any different:

"I am very optimistic about -- about Iraq. I mean, this could be one of the great achievements of this administration. You're going to see 90,000 American troops come marching home by the end of the summer. You're going to see a stable government in Iraq that is actually moving towards a representative government. I spent -- I've been there seventeen times now. I go about every two months -- three months. I know every one of the major players in all the segments of that society. It's impressed me. I've been impressed how they have been deciding to use the political process rather than guns to settle their differences."

Both then-Senator Obama and then-Senator Biden were in strong and vocal opposition to the "surge" that President Bush put into effect in the summer of 2007. Nearly all experts agree that the surge was instrumental in convincing sectarian leaders like Al-Sadr to turn away from violence and return to the political process.

"I am not persuaded that 20,000 additional troops in Iraq is going to solve the sectarian violence there..." -- Senator Obama, (MSNBC)


"...I don't know any expert on the region or any military officer that I've spoken to privately that believes that it's going to make a substantial difference to the situation on the ground..." -- Senator Obama, Jan 14, 2007 (FOXNews)


"... this is a cylcle of self-sustaining sectarian violence that 20,000, 30,000, 50,000, 100,000 Americans will not be able to solve."
"What is the President and my friend from Arizona and others insisting on? What can never be. A central government that is a democracy that is going to be fair to the rest of it's citizens. It is not possible. Mark my words. -- Sen. Joe Biden, March 2007 (CSPAN)


Joe... you're words are marked. And you were wrong.

I remind the reader that the August 2010 deadline to begin the pullout was actually defined in the summer of 2008, several months prior to the U.S. Presidential election and six month's prior to President Obama being sworn in. I further remind the reader, that according to the timeline currently being implemented, all U.S. troops are scheduled to depart Iraq by the end of the summer in 2011. All that planning, and that timeline (which to this day I think that timelines based on anything other than the success or failure of the campaign is a horrid idea) were all determined during President Bush's administration.

I consider it to be absolutely brazen and without character to now have the Vice President of the United States tell a national TV audience via Larry King Live that the legacy of a stable government in Iraq and the return of troops from that theater is one of the "Obama Administration's Greatest Achievements". For crying out loud, can't the current Administration give even a moment of thankful praise to the previous administration for having the guts to finish the mess they had created?