20070909 Politics- General Joseph Biden?

Associated Press via Fox News

Senator Joseph Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, recently pronounced that, in his estimation, General Petraeus’s assessment of the results of the current surge strategy in Iraq is “dead flat wrong”.

According to Biden, who recently returned from a several day visit to Iraq:

“The reality is that, although there has been some mild progress on the security front, there is, in fact, no real security in Baghdad or Anbar province, where I was dealing with the most serious problem, sectarian violence.”

Hmm.

Meanwhile, General Petraeus, who has been commander of Multinational Forces in Iraq since 27 January 2007, seems to have a different view:

“Up front, my sense is that we have achieved tactical momentum and wrested the initiative from our enemies in a number of areas of Iraq. The result has been progress in the security arena, although it has, as you know, been uneven. Additionally, as you all appreciate very well, innumerable tasks remain and much hard work lies ahead. We are, in short, a long way from the goal line, but we do have the ball and we are driving down the field.”

Not that he is saying that Iraq is won or even almost done, rather that we are making progress and that victory is now a real possibility.

According to what I know right now, Joseph Biden is not the commander of any military forces in Iraq, nor is he in a position to know the day-to-day situation on the ground there. Meanwhile, General Petraeus is in fact the commander of MNF-I and spends most of his time on the ground in Iraq.

I find the difference of opinion between Senator Biden and General Petraeus very interesting in light of the differences in their positions. I find the fact that most of the people who are actually paying attention to what is actually going on in Iraq seem to agree with General Petraeus very interesting.

It is also interesting that Senator Biden, who also happens to be a Democrat presidential candidate, is using his position as a Senator to appeal to the leftist nutroots that seem to dominate the current Democrat primary process. On the other hand, General Petraeus is using his position as commander of the forces in Iraq to achieve the goal they were sent there to accomplish in the first place.

The question we all have to decide come 15 September 2007 is whose word we are going to take on this issue. Are we going to believe Senator Biden, safely ensconced in his office in Washington DC or are we going to believe General Petraeus who will return to Iraq to command the troops there once he finishes testifying to the brood of vipers Congress?

Just wondering…

-=DLH=-

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