We've seen Sen. Joe Biden's plan for Iraq really taking off recently, as more and more lawmakers have begun to embrace it. The LA Times reports today that the administration itself may now be considering the plan. The Senator's efforts are starting to pay off!
http://www.latimes.com/...
With public support of the war dropping, President Bush has authorized an internal policy review to find a plan that could satisfy opponents without sacrificing his top goals...
But some senior administration officials — including Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and U.N. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad — have been quietly talking with lawmakers about how to adjust policy in the months ahead. Among other ideas, they have discussed whether the United States should advocate a sharply decentralized Iraq...
That idea — what proponents of decentralization call a "federal system of government" — is favored by an unusually broad bipartisan group of senators. They were pulled together this month by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joseph R. Biden Jr. "
Please forgive the short diary, but it's early and I'm at work. :(
The story does say a compromise is unlikely, and that Bush has never much liked the decentralization plan. But the President's mind may be changable, it says.
Briefly, although I disagree with Biden's bankruptcy bill support too, I support him for several reasons:
- His plan for Iraq
- His Darfur advocacy
- The fact that he has a plan for everything you ask him about, and doesn't stick to soundbites and generalities (I've seen this in person on New Orleans, education, oil, and more)
- He's as bipartisan a statesman as they come
- Maintains relationships with dozens of foreign leaders
- The Violence Against Women Act
- The Biden Crime Bill
- Not just Foreign Relations chair, but a former Judiciary chair (when the Bork hearings were held!)
- A compelling life story (car wreck, brain aneurysms)
I have long been a fan of Joe Biden's, and for years I've thought a federalist solution could work in Iraq. I was quite excited when my guy came out with such a plan, which you can read in great detail at planforiraq.com.