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Iraq
Biden to take new role overseeing Iraq policy
2009-07-01
President Barack Obama has asked Vice President Joe Biden to take on a new role overseeing the US departure from Iraq and Washington's effort to promote internal political reconciliation there. The White House said Tuesday that Biden would work closely with General Ray Odierno, the top US commander in Iraq and US ambassador to Baghdad Christopher Hill as US forces prefer to leave for good by the end of 2011.

"The vice president has been asked by the president to oversee the policy," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Tuesday.

Biden would work with Iraqis "toward overcoming their political differences and achieving the type of reconciliation that we all understand has yet to fully take place but needs to take place."
Maybe he can break the country into three parts!
"Given his knowledge of the region, the number of times he's been there, he's perfectly suited for this type of role," Gibbs said.
He's even been under fire there!
Biden, who was chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations committee before becoming vice president, has made repeated trips to Iraq, and is playing a similar role overseeing a 787 billion economic stimulus package.

Gibbs said that an idea once put forward by Biden, of dividing Iraq's Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish communities into a federation of autonomous zones, was not on the table for the Obama administration.
Since the Iraqis thought he was crackers ...
He said the vice president's role would likely include travel to Iraq and also meetings with the key players on US Iraq policy.

Biden's new portfolio had been rumored for several days, and Gibbs confirmed the reports on the day that US troops withdrew from the center of Iraqi cities and towns under an agreement with the Baghdad government.
Posted by:Steve White

#17  Joe would still be outmatched in a battle of wits
Posted by: Frank G   2009-07-01 22:37  

#16  What if it was a snapping turtle?
Posted by: SteveS   2009-07-01 22:12  

#15  I wouldn't let Biden babysit my kid's pet turtle.
Posted by: Broadhead6   2009-07-01 20:11  

#14  That was why I was feeling better, until I found out that Sheriff Slow Joe will be overseeing. Here's hoping he minds his bizness and STFU
Posted by: Frank G   2009-07-01 17:01  

#13  Safer over there now than at any time recently Frank. The US forces have almost entirely been withdrawn to the Forward Operations Bases (FOBS).
Posted by: Besoeker   2009-07-01 16:41  

#12  my son's deploying in September to Iraq, not Afghanistan, as he originally thought. I was feeling better til I read this.
Posted by: Frank G   2009-07-01 16:33  

#11  May God watch over the Iraqis, cuz I don't think this administration will. Word of advice for the good people of Iraq: you have won back your streets - be ever vigilant and don't lose them again.
Posted by: swksvolFF   2009-07-01 15:48  

#10  I don't think I's want Biden in charge of mowing my lawn.
Posted by: tu3031   2009-07-01 13:20  

#9  Biden is now responsible for two of the biggest boondoggles the 0bama administration has put in place. First, the "stimulus" package, and now, the hasty withdrawal from Iraq. The chances for failure in both instances are high, if not guaranteed, so it's no wonder the 0ne punts them to someone else, ensuring that Biden will be the fall guy when things inevitably go poorly.

"Well, I made Vice President Biden responsible for that so you'll have to ask him what went wrong."

On one hand, I ALMOST feel sorry for Joe because he's just trying to be a good soldier here. On the other hand, as someone with a self-proclaimed IQ as high as his, he should know better.
Posted by: eltoroverde   2009-07-01 13:16  

#8  Don't the Iraqis hate Biden on account of his "let's break 'em up into three states" crap?

And what happened to reducing the vice president back to the old "bucket of warm piss" sinecure it used to be before Darth Cheney started in on blasting lawyers in the face & the Goracle used it as a platform for shaking down Chinese monks?
Posted by: Mitch H.   2009-07-01 10:03  

#7  Blondie has got it. The window of opportunity is closing but if Joe Biden can't do it, nobody can.
Posted by: ed   2009-07-01 09:11  

#6  Here he comes to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.....
Posted by: Cornsilk Blondie   2009-07-01 08:06  

#5  Is the MOON still an option?
Posted by: Besoeker   2009-07-01 07:37  

#4  He send Bill to Haiti, now Joe to Iraq.
Whats next? Hillary to NKorea?
Posted by: Skidmark   2009-07-01 07:33  

#3  But, but, but I thought Joe was the stimulus Zsar?
Posted by: Besoeker   2009-07-01 06:46  

#2  Sen. Joe Biden Declares Iraq Troop Buildup 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."


Oh, that Joe Biden
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC   2009-07-01 05:28  

#1  time to gird your loins iraq, sheriff joe is coming to town. I'm sure his speeches will amuse you as much as they amuse us back in the states.

Posted by: Broadhead6   2009-07-01 00:09  

00:00