Biden's Anti-Iraq Surge Comments Could Be Part of McCain Attack Plan

By: John Bentley
Topics: John McCain

(CBS)

From CBS News' John Bentley:

(SEDONA, ARIZ.) – One of John McCain's favorite lines of attack against Barack Obama is that he maintains Obama still hasn't admitted that the surge in Iraq was a success. Now that Joe Biden has been selected as Obama's VP at least partially because of his foreign policy experience, you can bet you'll be hearing a lot about Biden's low opinion of the surge strategy, which he called "doomed" and "a fantasy."

"The surge isn't going to work either tactically or strategically," Biden told the Boston Globe last summer. "Tactically it isn't going to work because ... our guys go in and secure a neighborhood, but because we don't have enough troops, we have to turn it over to the Iraqis, and they can't hold it or won't hold it."

Biden advocated dividing up the country into three parts based on ethnicity, something McCain strongly disagreed with.

"If you did the three different countries, basically what the Biden-Gelb proposal (is) as I understand it, one, you'd be drawing dividing lines in bedrooms in Baghdad because Sunni and Shia are married," McCain said. "The second thing is, the Turks have announced that they will not allow an independent Kurdish state."

As the U.S. begins to draw up a timetable to withdraw troops from Iraq, McCain has credited the surge, led by Gen. David Petraeus, with the ability to talk about pulling troops out. Biden called Petraeus "dead flat wrong" on the surge and said an Iraqi government made up of Shias, Sunnis, and Kurds is "not going to happen."

All three of those groups are currently represented in the Iraqi government, although the security and stability in the country has been termed "fragile" by most observers there.

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by mattcat25 August 25, 2008 12:45 PM EDT: The only success %u201Cthe surge%u201D accomplished was raising the Corporate Contractor%u2019s loot from $8 Billion Dollars per month to $12 Billion.

The Bush Administration should%u2019ve implemented %u201Cthe surge%u201D from the outset of their occupation of Iraq 7 years ago.; Reply to this comment


by lordmi August 24, 2008 7:15 AM EDT: when we found, that he forgot, how many houses he had, I suddenly realized: this human being does not have any plan, he does not have any brains, he is just conducted by his campaign''s managers, to where GOP suppose him to bring.
Give me a break - it is disable, stupid, low-minded Cretin with one word and eager in his empty head - war-war-war.
Military nothingness - that what he is, McWar.; Reply to this comment


by mapatty1 August 24, 2008 3:37 AM EDT: Why should Obama admit the surge is working, when McShame want admit that it was a mistake to invade Iraq? Had there Been no invasion, there would not have been a need for a surge.; Reply to this comment


by misha128-2009 August 24, 2008 3:04 AM EDT: Sen. Biden wanted to divide Iraq into three.

Posted by gilesrm

I suggest you review Senator Biden''s proposal you are missing a central feature of a weak federal government over the three partitions.

If the alternative is the acceptance of Senator McCain''s proposal for supporting an Iraqi welfare state for 100 years.

I''ll take Senator Biden and his weakly federated Iraq with three regions not unlike US States. This solution is not unlike the initial setup of the US under the Articles of Confederation before our constitution was ratified creating a stronger but delineated role for the federal government. Just like we changed; the Iraqis can change AS THEY SEE FIT in the future under the Biden proposal.; Reply to this comment


by gilesrm August 23, 2008 11:09 PM EDT: Sen. Biden wanted to divide Iraq into three. He should run for Russian, not US V-P. He could advise Medvedev and Putin on how to split Georgia into 3 parts.; Reply to this comment


by dinslc August 23, 2008 8:18 PM EDT: It shows Obama''s strength as a leader that he chose a VP who has had positions that were at odds with Obama''s.

Also, Obama would not have been able to waltz in and make the necessary changes in Washington without the support of a long serving partner to help grease the wheels.; Reply to this comment