Joe Biden
A brief update on the the final Iraq Study Group report, which was released today. The Iraq Study Group's report is important, necessary, but not sufficient to achieve the objective most Americans want: to leave Iraq without leaving chaos behind.
The report's most valuable contribution is to make clear that staying the course in Iraq is not an option. Thanks to the Iraq Study Group's efforts, the central question is no longer whether to stay in Iraq, but when and how, to responsibly leave. What is missing from the report, however, is a strategy for sustaining a political settlement among Iraqis so they stand together instead of falling apart.

I plan to hold intensive and extensive hearings on Iraq to shine a light on what options remain for America in Iraq, and will send further updates when those hearings begin.   http://uniteourstates.com/  Thank you,   Joe Biden

Senator Biden, commenting on the Iraq Study Group findings (see article below), again emphasizes the following:
 
“……a federalized Iraq, with three or more largely autonomous regional governments to suit the separate interests of Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds. Baghdad would remain a federal city, and a central government would administer truly common concerns, such as defending Iraq's borders and managing its foreign policy.
Our idea imposes nothing on the Iraqis, whose constitution already provides for this approach.
For federalism to work, the constitution must be amended to guarantee Sunnis — who are sand-rich but oil-poor — a proportionate share of oil revenue, to be administered by the central government with international oversight.
Absent a political settlement, refocusing the mission of our remaining troops on training and engaging Iraq's neighbors will not stabilize Iraq. ………..”
 
This is the right approach to follow in Iraq.
 
Iraqis, left alone, will ultimately sort out their own affairs, either peacefully or, more likely, after going through a low grade civil war that will allow warring factions to delineate borders for their regions.  Continued US military presence in Iraq is essential for the foreseeable future for the purpose of discourage regional powers from redrawing their borders with Iraq or from tapping into Iraq’s oil.
 
December 7, 2006      Press Release
Op-Ed: Iraq Study Group report -- Necessary, but not sufficient
USA TODAY
Iraq Study Group report: Necessary, but not sufficient   By Joseph R. Biden, Jr.    December 7, 2006

The Baker-Hamilton report is a first step toward a bipartisan way forward in Iraq. The fundamental changes it proposes are necessary, but not sufficient to achieve the objective most Americans share: to leave Iraq without leaving chaos behind.
The report's most valuable contribution is to make clear that staying the course in Iraq is not an option. Thanks to its efforts, the central question is no longer whether to stay in Iraq, but when and how to responsibly leave.

The military redeployment it proposes is not, by itself, a plan. But the knowledge that our troops will not stay in Iraq in these large numbers can help concentrate the Iraqis on the hard political decisions ahead.
We should start to bring our combat troops out in the first half of next year, but with no artificial end date. A residual force should remain, whose mission would be counterterrorism, training, logistics and force protection.

Even if it made strategic sense to keep 145,000 troops in Iraq beyond next year, we could not do so without damaging the military, including: sending soldiers back on third and fourth tours, extending deployment times from 12 to 18 months, ending the practice of a year at home between deployments, fully mobilizing the Guard and Reserves, and returning demobilized soldiers to Iraq through a backdoor draft.
The impact on retention and recruitment would be devastating.

Involve neighboring countries

The report is also right that as we start to bring our troops out, we have to bring Iraq's neighbors in to support a peaceful outcome. That includes not just Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt and Turkey, but Iran and Syria, too. Some of Iraq's neighbors have no desire to do us any favors. But like us, they have powerful interests in preventing a full-blown civil war that could become a regional war.
We should also convene an international conference to help hammer out an agreement among Iraqis and secure the support of Iraq's neighbors — or, if chaos ensues anyway, to help contain its fallout.

While the report gets the big military and diplomatic pieces right, it falls short on the most important piece of all: a strategy for a sustainable political settlement.
It is not enough to stand up Iraqi forces. We have to help Iraqis stand together. That is the only way to break the cycle of violence and prevent Iraq from falling apart.

Instead, the report perpetuates one of the Bush's administration's most fundamental mistakes: the belief that a political settlement can be based solely on building up a strong central government.
That policy has been tried and has failed. There is no trust within the government, no trust of the government by the people, and no capacity on the part of the government to deliver basic services to Iraqis.

Six months ago, with Les Gelb of the Council on Foreign Relations, I offered a detailed plan that would give each of Iraq's main groups incentives to pursue their interests peacefully. The details can be found at www.planforiraq.com.
We proposed a federalized Iraq, with three or more largely autonomous regional governments to suit the separate interests of Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds. Baghdad would remain a federal city, and a central government would administer truly common concerns, such as defending Iraq's borders and managing its foreign policy.

Our idea imposes nothing on the Iraqis, whose constitution already provides for this approach.
For federalism to work, the constitution must be amended to guarantee Sunnis — who are sand-rich but oil-poor — a proportionate share of oil revenue, to be administered by the central government with international oversight.
Absent a political settlement, refocusing the mission of our remaining troops on training and engaging Iraq's neighbors will not stabilize Iraq.

A welcome shift

Despite its shortcomings, the Baker-Hamilton report has helped spark a fundamental reassessment of our Iraq policy. Right after the New Year, I will focus the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on that same challenge, in collaboration with my Republican counterpart, Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana.
We will hold intensive and extensive hearings, over many weeks. We won't be wedded to any one plan or proposal. Our mission will be to shine a light on what options remain for America in Iraq and to help complete the work that this report has so valiantly begun.

Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., is the senior Democrat and incoming chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
USA TODAY
Iraq Study Group report: Necessary, but not sufficient   By Joseph R. Biden, Jr.    December 7, 2006


Dubai TV and the Iraqi Insurgency   Fawaz Saraf       December 9, 2006
 
Every Friday, Dr. Ahmad Al-Kubeisi anchors a religion program, THE WORD AND ITS SISTERS, on Dubai TV.  Dubai TV is owned and operated by the United Arab Emirate Department of Information.  Dr. Al-Kubaisi is the chair of department of Islamic Studies at Emirates University.  Dr. Al-Kubaisi also happens to be from Anbar, the deadliest province in Iraq for US troops and a hot bed of the Sunni Insurgency.  I watched Dr. Alkubaisi’s program last night from the comfort of my mother’s home in Falls Church, Virginia.

 Following is an excerpt of what this medieval man had to say:
 
1 – Do you see, a few hundreds resistance fighters have defeated the most powerful nation in the world.
 
2 – The Arabs and Moslems are the only righteous people because we are the only ones who are believers, and unlike western culture, and we are the only ones who have family value, who believe in respect etc.  And then to emphasize his point Dr. Alkubaisi began to roll out some statistics by saying “..did you know that 40% of westerners have AIDS, did you know that 36% of westerners have sex with their mothers, daughters and sisters…..” and the rubbish continues.
 
3 – One good thing about the Iraq war is that it has exposed the traitors and the infidels in our land and once the war is won and the west is defeated, these traitors (my guess is that in his mind these traitors include most Iraqi Shiites and Iraqi Kurds) will be killed and Uma (Islamic nation) will be cleansed of their filth.
 
What is depressing is that this program is widely watched in the Arab world and perhaps even, more alarmingly, by Arabs and Moslems here in the US.

Dubai TV and the Iraqi Insurgency     Fawaz Saraf       December 9, 2006