Posted by
Snooper on Saturday, June 02, 2007 7:21:48 PM
biden's retarded plan for Iraq...
BIDEN-GELB PLAN FOR IRAQ
The debate about Iraq in Washington centers on a false choice that
is also a bad choice. Do we continue on President Bush's failing course
and hand the problem off to the next President? Or do we just leave and
hope for the best?
There is a third way. Leslie Gelb, President
Emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations, and I have proposed a
five-point plan to keep Iraq together, protect America's interests and
bring our troops home. We recognize that while leaving Iraq is
necessary, it is not a plan. We also need a plan for what we leave
behind, so that America's interests and security are protected. That is
what we have proposed.
Sectarian violence among Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds is now the major
impediment to stability and progress in Iraq. No number of troops can
solve that problem. The only way to hold Iraq together and create the
conditions for our armed forces to responsibly withdraw is to give
Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds a way to share power peacefully.. That
requires a sustainable political settlement, which is the primary
objective of our plan.
The plan would maintain a unified Iraq by decentralizing it and
giving Kurds, Shiites and Sunnis local control over their daily lives -
as provided for in the Iraqi constitution. The central government would
be responsible for common interests, like border security and the
distribution of oil revenues. We would secure support from the Sunnis -
who have no oil -- by guaranteeing them a proportionate share (about 20
percent) of oil revenues and reintegrating them into society. We would
increase economic aid, ask the oil-rich Arab Gulf states to fund it and
tie all assistance to the protection of minority rights and the
creation of a jobs program. We would initiate a major diplomatic
offensive to enlist the support of Iraq's neighbors and create an
Oversight Group of the U.N. and the major powers to enforce their
commitments. And we would ask our military to draw up plans to
responsibly withdraw most U.S. forces from Iraq by 2008 - enough time
for the political settlement to take hold - while leaving a small force
behind to take on terrorists and train Iraqis.
The course we're on has no end in sight. This plan can allow us to
achieve the two objectives most American share: to leave Iraq without
leaving chaos behind. I hope you will take the time to read the plan
and endorse it by adding your email address to our list of supporters.
Thank you,
Joe Biden, U.S. Senator (D-DE)
Ranking Member, U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee
The Biden-Gelb plan would:
- Keep Iraq together by giving its major groups breathing room in
their own regions and control over their daily lives. A central
government would be left in charge of common interests like defending
the borders and distributing oil revenues.
- Secure the support of the Sunnis -- who have no oil -- by
guaranteeing them a proportionate share of oil revenue and
reintegrating those with no blood on their hands.
- Increase, not end, reconstruction assistance but insist that the
oil-rich Arab Gulf states fund it and tie it to the creation of a
massive jobs program and to the protection of minority rights.
- Initiate a major diplomatic offensive to enlist the support of the
major powers and Iraq's neighbors for a political settlement in Iraq
and create an Oversight Contact Group to enforce regional commitments.
- Begin the phased redeployment of U.S. forces this year and withdraw
most of them by 2008, with a small follow-on force to keep the
neighbors honest and to strike any concentration of terrorists.