Biden, Brownback Join Forces On Iraq Policy

By Charlotte Eby
qctimes.com
Oct 13, 2007

DES MOINES — Two presidential candidates from opposing parties outlined their plan for a political solution in Iraq during a rare joint campaign event here Friday.

U.S. Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., and U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., have developed a plan that would divide Iraq into three regions with a limited federal government.

The federal government would perform essential duties, including border security and the distribution of oil revenues, but Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds would be given their own semi-autonomous states.

Biden, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called the situation in Iraq “the boulder sitting in the middle of the road” and emphasized that the issue is more important than domestic politics.

“The one thing we agree on is that the solution to our situation in Iraq is, quite frankly, more important than who among us will be the next president of the United States of America,” he added.

The idea for their proposal, which Brownback called a “political surge,” recently gained approval in the U.S. Senate on a 75-23 vote.

“We’re going to make the recent military progress count,” Brownback said. “We have to have political progress.”

Brownback used a map of Baghdad to illustrate sectarian movement inside the city, with Sunnis moving west and Shiites heading east. He said 6,000 people per month are relocating inside Iraq, largely along ethnic or sectarian lines.

“This is not something that we support,” he said. “This is not something we’re pushing, but this happens to be a reality on the ground in Iraq today.”

Biden said their plan brings to life what is already in the Iraqi constitution, which calls for a decentralized federal system of government. He contends that Iraq cannot be governed from the center at this point.

“Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds are just not prepared to entrust their futures to one another at this moment in history,” he added.

Biden also took aim at criticism of the plan that says it would mean a partitioning or splitting of Iraq into three separate countries, which he called a mischaracterization.

“That is not on the table,” he added.

Charlotte Eby can be contacted at (515) 243-0138 or chareby@aol.com.