Biden: 12-14 Conservatives Would Vote To Change Course In Iraq If Senate Changes Hands
Biden: 12-14 Conservatives Would Vote To Change Course In Iraq If Senate Changes Hands
On Fox this morning, Sen. Joseph Biden (D-DE) said the upcoming elections in November may determine whether the U.S. changes course in Iraq. If control over the Senate changes hands, “you’re going to see twelve to fourteen” conservatives “freed up to go out and join in a bipartisan way to tell the President we are seriously off course,” Biden said. He added that if elections don’t result in a change of control, then the administration will view it as a reaffirmation of stay the course. Watch it:
Biden said three conservatives have told him personally that they want to change course, but won’t state so publicly until the outcome of the elections is determined. If Biden’s assertions are true, nearly a dozen conservative Senators have come to the determination that the course in Iraq is failing, but are unwilling to speak out.
2,791 U.S. soldiers have died in Iraq and this month has been the deadliest in Iraq this year. While troops are courageously fighting and dying in Iraq, conservative politicians at home can’t muster the courage to honestly state their views about the war.
Transcript:
WALLACE: Very briefly, Senator Biden, what’s at stake?
BIDEN: If the Democrats regain control, you’re going to see 12 to 14 Republicans freed up to go out and join in a bipartisan way to tell the President, we are seriously off course. If the Democrats don’t make gains, it will be a reaffirmation for this administration, stay the course, and I believe that will happen.
WALLACE: You think there are a dozen Republicans chomping at the bit?
BIDEN: I know there are at least three that approached me before we left.
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October 22nd, 2006 at 10:36 amYeah…I’ll believe it when I see these rubber-stampers do it!
October 22nd, 2006 at 10:42 amI think after elections we will start redeployment. Or the Murtha Doctorine will start.
October 22nd, 2006 at 10:45 amBig if ….
The poll numbers don’t have the spread in individual races that indicate Dems will actually win. Using Busby as an example, Dems need to be 5 points ahead in polls before they are likely to win, due to poor voter turnout ….
Regardless, seems Raum Emanuel has gotten his way. Clintonistas are poised for wins, whereas progs are posed for humiliating losses. Thanks to the hard work of progs on these blogs, Raum is actually going to look like a hero, reinforcing the power of the centrist wing of the Dem party. Way to go progs – thank God the Congress will remain in the hands of Reps and Rep wannabes. Couldn’t have done it without you.
October 22nd, 2006 at 10:47 amThe absolute epitome of cowardice and the polar opposite of integrity.
Anyone who can sit by and continue to ‘go along’ when their hearts and minds tell them it is the wrong thing to do… knowing that hundreds and thousands are dying while they hesitate to take a stand for what they know is right… should be a prosecutable offense for an elected official.
Remember that British officials are resigning in droves because they do not agree with the direction of their leadership.
Integrity… honor… sorely lacking here in the US of A.
October 22nd, 2006 at 10:50 amAre these GOP people not able to stand and think on their own?
October 22nd, 2006 at 10:55 amWhat a bunch of weakwilled group think [Hendlers] mamby pamby nattering ninnies.
Regardless, seems Raum Emanuel has gotten his way. Clintonistas are poised for wins, whereas progs are posed for humiliating losses. Thanks to the hard work of progs on these blogs, Raum is actually going to look like a hero, reinforcing the power of the centrist wing of the Dem party. Way to go progs – thank God the Congress will remain in the hands of Reps and Rep wannabes. Couldn’t have done it without you.
Comment by Jason+M.+Hendler
Bwahahahhaaa, Jason thinks he knows the plan….
October 22nd, 2006 at 10:56 amThat’s gotta make the soldiers feel important…
October 22nd, 2006 at 10:57 amNo, Dog named Boo, the Repugs cannot, will not, do not think on their own. They take their marching orders and proceed from there. They speak the words from their White House issued scripts. They pander to Americans, but follow their leader into hell, dragging us all with them.
October 22nd, 2006 at 10:58 amThey are a disgusting and revolting lot of hypocrites, liars, and and moral perverts.
I can’t believe they’ll work with Democrats on anything. Unless we bribe them, maybe. Check us out at
October 22nd, 2006 at 11:04 amDemokat
America’s Least Wanted
Couldn’t have done it without you.
Comment by Jason+M.+Hendler — October 22, 2006 @ 10:47 am
Jason – as always, you’re delusional… and obviously absent from the thread below this one that proves Bush is a liar.
October 22nd, 2006 at 11:06 amDog named Boo Hoo Dems lose again ….
I watched Biden say that, and Chris Wallace started laughing at him. No one can take that statement seriously. As for Iraq, when Maliqi refuses to crush the militias, he is ceding the power given to him by the voters to Iraq’s warlords – I can’t think of anything more disheartening to the prospects for Iraq. You can’t have Democracy until you have security – now the only thing that could save Iraq is a military coup to put in a strong leader who will tamp down on militias, but that gets you right back to someone like Saddam Hussein, who needed to kill and torture to “maintain order”.
October 22nd, 2006 at 11:07 amMarie #9, as usual you are correct…..Blessings
October 22nd, 2006 at 11:08 amPower corrupts absolutely
October 22nd, 2006 at 11:08 amLet’s call them what they really are: COWARDS!!!!
And none of Hendler’s off-topic bloviating can detract from the fact that these sycophantic fools are letting our troops die and be maimed for no other reason than the fact that they lack the courage of their convictions. Every one of these individuals to which Senator Biden was referring today should be ashamed of themselves (as should James Baker and Lee Hamilton for not coming out with the results of their study until after the election).
This is what the American people are finally starting to realize (and why our Mr Hendler comes here to derail the conversation): the Republicans don’t really give a shit about anything other than their own political survival. It’s all politics all the time and the American people are fed up with it.
Oh, and Jason? Your fear is showing.
October 22nd, 2006 at 11:10 amYou watch WAY too much TV Jason..Chris Wallace is just a spoiled little imp trading on his fathers name, just like your spineless cheerleader Dubya. I don’t listen to, or watch, any of these media idiots.
October 22nd, 2006 at 11:15 amThat’s what Bush is doing now isn’t it? But hey Rummy and the think tank morons didn’t send enough troops for security did they? Noooo, they said we have shock and awe, guided missiles and smart bombs, we don’t need security, we need millions of dollars in high tech weaponry!
But as usual Jason ignores the past rhetoric.
October 22nd, 2006 at 11:19 amLet’s call them what they really are: COWARDS!!!!
October 22nd, 2006 at 11:21 amThere ya go. We could even go a little further: What would you call someone who puts their political party before the interests of their country during what they call a time of war? Let’s see, it begins with a t…r…a…i….
Jason now admits that Bush ignored the generals and didn’t send enough troops to secure Iraq.
Keep shooting your toes off Jason.
October 22nd, 2006 at 11:21 amWallace is a smug tool for the party. This is the man who participated in a touchy-feely interview with his father, and then weeks later, accused his father of being senile, and out of touch, not to be believed. Wallace will stoop to levels as low as necessary to further his own agenda.
October 22nd, 2006 at 11:23 am# 18 – Jim,
That’s precisely where I was going with that.
October 22nd, 2006 at 11:26 amI’m not a republican but: Lugar was the only one on the morning “news” shows this morning with this salient point……
Iraq will never be stable until there is a stable economy. Reconstruction is much more important to stability than #’s of troops and troop strategy. This is another part of the debate that always gets missed when you are focused only on the military portion.
With unemployment at 40% in Iraq, there are alot of people who are at risk to be convinced into sectarian violence or insurgency faction. — (Note for neocons: Guess why I state FACTION and not a single insurgency)
By the way this is the key to any stable solution in the aftermath of ANY military conquest —- it applies to Afghanistan as well (and Palestine for that matter).
NO sustained economy means a breeding ground for continued unrest.
Even when Iraq dissolves to civil war and the Shiites have control of the south, there still will be no sustainable central government without an infrastructure and equal access to economic success (meaning oil in this case).
All of this NA NA NA BOO BOO, who’s going to win the mid-terms detracts from this. A change in STRATEGY (overall comprehensive strategy – not campaign slogans) is needed and WILL be coming regardless.
On that you can bank. Either it happens starting now or the current strategy WILL fail completely and need to be replaced.
October 22nd, 2006 at 11:32 amWhen the House and Senate changes hands the course that changes will lead through the White House: Bush/Cheney out Nancy Pelosi/Obama in.
Our first Lady President and our first African-American Vice President. Things are looking up!
Impeach in January!
Join the Revolution–Click on Clyde!
October 22nd, 2006 at 11:33 am#19, Dog named Boo Hoo Dems lose again …
Not at all, all the troops in the US can’t support a government that won’t fight for itself, which is why only a military coup will save Iraq. Question now is, should Iraq be saved? I have always been partial to dividing the country into its ethnic regions – something European powers always feared, due to their economic interests in the region.
Yugoslavia split up after the Soviet Union fell, so why shouldn’t these provinces?
October 22nd, 2006 at 11:34 am“You can’t have Democracy until you have security”
I, for one, reject this statement as a truism. I posit that one may be enlightened and live in a democratic state even while that state is under attack from within and without. For it is the democratic State, operating under the rule of law, which affords majority rule while respecting the rights of the minority which creates the greatest security for all.
Yet some individuals seek security, even a false sense of security, in a strong leader. Given a choice, they will live under a dictator for the sake of “security.” Iraq under Saddam Hussein was secure. There was no insurgency, no internecine warfare.
And now Bush has the power of a dictator, thanks to the Military Commissions Act of 2006.
October 22nd, 2006 at 11:39 am24 – check out what Turkey would do if the Kurds became independent. Then come back here an say whether or not that would be a good thing.
October 22nd, 2006 at 11:42 amthese people are cowards. if they said what they believed all along we’d never be in this mess. such cowardice is common in people but is not acceptable from elected leaders when making such imported decisions. they should all be voted out as soon as possible.
October 22nd, 2006 at 11:44 amso, biden knows at least 3 people who think more dead soldiers is OK until they know their backs are safe… i want to know who those 3 are.
October 22nd, 2006 at 11:44 am…
A military coup? I have heard this many times this morning. THere is only one problem with this: The current Iraqi military is not a unilateral force.
Oh yes it could have been if Saddams army had been retained, but Rummy and Wolf screwed that up in the invasion.
Another problem – even if there is a military coup, attention must be made to sustain the economy for ANY entity to retain power. THere is not the force in place to do this, therefore even a Coup will end up in full civil war
Con’s ALWAYS look for the easy way out. Jebus, I’m surprised I’m not hearing advocates of assassination. Damned Neocons are sounding more like terrorists every day.
October 22nd, 2006 at 11:44 amIs it possible for Biden to go just one Sunday without being on TV? Just once?
October 22nd, 2006 at 11:49 amAmerica’s Least Wanted
… and it is probably prudent at this point to remind folks that, regardless of which go-forward stategy one feels is the best way out of the current mess in Iraq, it was BushCo who got us into this mess! They ignored intelligence officials and military committees and led us into this mess with blinders on, refusing to hear criticism along the way regardless of the toll in both dollars and lives.
Why on Earth would anyone be willing to give any proposed strategy they offer even the slightest hint of credibility?
We need a leadership change… now.
October 22nd, 2006 at 11:51 amBiden’s a tool. Isn’t there anyone else?
October 22nd, 2006 at 11:55 amFor it is the democratic State, operating under the rule of law, which affords majority rule while respecting the rights of the minority which creates the greatest security for all.
That is democracy, not Jason’s cowardly and pathetic defintion…
Yet some individuals seek security, even a false sense of security, in a strong leader. Given a choice, they will live under a dictator for the sake of “security.â€
And that is the definition of Jason Hendler…
Iraq under Saddam Hussein was secure. There was no insurgency, no internecine warfare.
And no revolution. If they weren’t upset about how they lived, who are we to change that?
And now Bush has the power of a dictator, thanks to the Military Commissions Act of 2006.
Comment by Briseadh na Faire — October 22, 2006 @ 11:39 am
Bush = Saddam. Except that Bush has now killed more Iraqis, and Americans than Saddam.
October 22nd, 2006 at 12:10 pmKay Bailey Hutchison from the President’s home state of Texas who is now performing the greatest pre-election turnabout on Iraq. And in seeking cover from the woes of President Bush, Senator Hutchison has paradoxically lauded President Clinton’s intervention in the Balkans, a policy she once vehemently opposed.
For the ful story, see:
October 22nd, 2006 at 12:30 pm,a href=”http://www.perrspectives.com/blog/archives/000475.htm”>”Hutchison Backs Iraq Partition, Endorses Clinton Balkans Policy.”
The Grand Old Party of Retreaticans - With Bush denying the policy was ever “Stay the Course” (the audacity is breath taking) and a growing flood of Republicans saying our direction in Iraq needs to change, America is witnessing “cut and run” in action. For nearly 4 years we have endured a President with no plan and a Republican Congress that conspired and collaborated to protect him at every step. The result – tens of thousands of lives lost, billions of dollars squandered and an utter disaster for both America and Iraq.
Realizing the American people are prepared to throw them out the Retreaticans are cutting and running as fast as their tongues can carry them.
Talk about cowardice under fire.
October 22nd, 2006 at 12:40 pmBiden is wishy-washy himself, so I tend not to trust him about anything! He has always been a supporter of the Iraq occupation, but now that it’s an utter fiasco he wants to claim otherwise > lol.
October 22nd, 2006 at 1:10 pmIs it possible for Biden to go just one Sunday without being on TV? Just once?
In New York, we have the same dilemma with Chuck Schumer. It seems that no weekend goes by without him getting his face on TV somewhere. I think he was on “Face the Nation” today. I suffer from some emotional insecurities myself, but come on, Chuck, it’s not like we’re going to think you resigned if we missed seeing you on TV one weekend.
You know, with all the news about politicians being bad these days, you’d think a politician would rather not be having his name mentioned on TV, at least until it’s safe to assume that when people hear your name, they aren’t reacting with, “Now what’s he done?”
October 22nd, 2006 at 1:10 pmThis is the message that needs to reach voters.
October 22nd, 2006 at 1:24 pmSorry, but Biden’s hair plugs burn my eyes.
He should have gone bald gracefully. That says a lot about a man.
October 22nd, 2006 at 1:58 pmthis morning on face the nation, i heard schieffer explain that schumer and dole were chosen by their respective party to be in charge of fundraising and the message (again, correct me if i heard wrong), and that must be why he, schumer, is on the tv so much… makes sense…
October 22nd, 2006 at 2:34 pmIt’s pretty boring sometimes to be right all the time. I take no pleasure in gloating at this point, with the amount of bloodshed it has taken to reach this stage of world history predicted by liberals like me a long time ago. I distinctly remember arguing with my brother over the lead-up to the invasion of Iraq. I told him then that there would be no WMD’s found. I told him Iraq would devolve into another Vietnam. I told him Americans would be caught in the middle of a theocratic civil war.
Now, years later, I am proved correct on all points.
So, I will go on record here and now with a few more predictions.
1. Voter turn-out in the coming election is going to surprise a lot of people.
2. If Democrats do not win outright control of Congress, they will at least be equal in number which will bring Cheney out of the White House a lot more often, distracting him from his shadow presidency and possibly giving the country some breathing room.
3. Regardless of the election results, we will remain in Iraq at near current levels through the entirety of 2007 and possibly 2008.
4. An emboldened Iran is going to become an even more important player in internal Iraqi matters with an eye toward annexation of at least a big portion of Iraq.
October 22nd, 2006 at 2:37 pmBrian,
I hope you’re right — and I hope you’re wrong.
These are truly interesting times…
October 22nd, 2006 at 2:42 pmZooey, I have similar hopes as well but I am just too cynical about the current state of things to see anything different happening. I look around me and see an America that says
“Yes, I hear the wind of Revolution blowing but Desperate Housewives is on tonight and plus I have to be up early for work in the morning, so um…. maybe we can talk about this later?”
October 22nd, 2006 at 2:49 pmoh, and, as an afterthought to the above – i was getting annoyed with schumer’s repeating the line about the people “want change” without ever giving a concrete example of a definite change…
October 22nd, 2006 at 2:50 pmi guess those precious seconds have to be filled with something though… he’s planting a subliminal seed – “change – change – change”… …ok…
.
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October 22nd, 2006 at 4:50 pmBiden is such a phony; he is a politician who stands for nothing. He’ll say anything to get himself re-elected. He was such a cheerleader for the war and now that the public-at-large has turned against it, he’s decided that it’s more politically beneficial to himself to become a critic.
October 22nd, 2006 at 5:18 pmSadly, it would take an election result for these Conservatives to do the right thing. They should put our country and the well being of our military men and women ahead of their party’s aspirations.
This is is the exact thing a politician should buck their party for instead of waiting for an election result to decide how to act. No wonder only 14% of the people approve of this Republican Congress. How sad for America.
October 22nd, 2006 at 6:03 pmanother 7/11 will cement the Republican in the seat of power. watch out,
October 22nd, 2006 at 11:06 pmWhat are Americans thinking? The GOP has turned even our friends against us. All GOP senators should be abandoning the worst President in US history.
October 23rd, 2006 at 12:32 amOh, Boo- Hoo, Republicans are toast! Couldn’t happen to a worse bunch! But now the Democrats have to pick up the pieces, not going to be easy.
October 23rd, 2006 at 12:46 amHOW TO DIG A GRAVEYARD ?
October 23rd, 2006 at 3:34 amrequires neither Political leadership nor state-craftsmanship.
Human dignity means to uphold DIVINE VALUES
on this EARTH PLANET
Time to repent – Asoka shows the way !
Time to relinquish ? Buddha leads the path!
Time to surrender ? God shows the options !
BEWARE ! Sub-Conscious Ego Blocks the Vision !
That’s if these guys are still around after the elections.
October 23rd, 2006 at 8:41 am