Defending the Truth

U.S. Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-DE) seems to have some pretty good ideas. I think he maybe a late shoe-in for 2008. I hope so.
From his own website:

<b><u>FACT SHEET: Biden Plan for Iraq</b></u>
President Bush does not have a strategy for victory in Iraq. His strategy is to prevent defeat and to hand the problem off to his successor. Meanwhile, the frustration of Americans is mounting so fast that Congress might end up mandating a rapid withdrawal, even at the risk of trading a dictator for chaos and a civil war that could become a regional war. Both are bad alternatives.

There is a third way. The idea is to maintain a unified Iraq by decentralizing it and giving Kurds, Shiites and Sunnis their own regions. The central government would be responsible for common interests, like border security and the distribution of oil revenues. The plan would bind the Sunnis by guaranteeing them a proportionate share of oil revenues. It would increase economic aid but tie it to the protection of minority and women's rights and the creation of a jobs program. It would require a regional non-aggression pact, overseen by the U.N. Security Council. And it would allow us to responsibly withdraw most U.S. forces from Iraq by 2008.

The new, central reality in Iraq is that violence between the Shiites and Sunnis has surpassed the insurgency as the main security threat. . In last December's elections, 90 percent of the votes went to sectarian lists. Ethnic militias increasingly are the law in Iraq. They have infiltrated the official security forces. Massive unemployment is feeding the militia and criminal gangs. Sectarian cleansing has forced 200,000 Iraqis to flee their homes in recent months. At the same time, Al Qaeda is now so firmly entrenched in Western Iraq that it has morphed into an indigenous jihadist threat. As a result, Iraq risks becoming what it was not before the war: a haven for radical fundamentalists.



Biden Outlines Four Steps to Make America Safer
Biden Outlines Four Steps to Make America Safer

Are we safer today than we were five years ago?

The facts speak for themselves. Each of the so-called “axis of evil countries” poses a greater threat now than it did then: Iraq is on the verge of chaos, Iran is closer to developing nuclear weapons and North Korea has 400 percent more fissile material.

The Administration’s conviction that democracy can be imposed by force from the outside and its simplistic equation of democracy with elections has helped legitimize already militarized groups like Hezbollah and Hamas.

Five years ago President Bush pledged to capture Osama bin Laden. Today bin Laden remains at large. Our forces are struggling to keep Afghanistan from unraveling. There is no strategy to capture, kill or dissuade more terrorists than our enemies are creating. We know from Katrina and the failing grades issued by the 9/11 Commission that we are not sufficiently secure at home. This Administration has failed to implement all of the 9/11 recommendations and slashed support for local law enforcement and first responders.

The Administration continues to conflate under one label – “the war on terrorism” -- very disparate challenges from very different groups and countries and to use the same limited set of tools – military force and regime change – to fight them. We must refocus America on the most lethal threat: the possibility radical fundamentalists will acquire weapons of mass destruction and develop strategies for success in Iraq and Afghanistan. That will give America more freedom, flexibility and credibility to engage other challenges, including outlaw states that flout the rules, violence in the Middle East, the struggle for the hearts and minds of tens of millions of Muslims, the emergence of China and India, and energy and environmental security.

To make this country safer, we must recapture the totality of America’s strength – wielding our political, diplomatic, economic and moral might, together with our military power. Senator Biden would:

Create a homeland security trust fund to implement all the 9/11 Commission recommendations and invest in local law enforcement

Intercept threats abroad through a comprehensive prevention strategy
Restore partnerships and build effective alliances
Advance democracy, bolster failing states, engage and win the war of ideas.
1. Create Homeland Security Trust Fund The Bush tax cuts for millionaires exceed $60 billion this year alone. Senator Biden would take back some of the tax cuts for people making over a million dollars a year in order to put $10 billion a year ($50 billion over 5 years) into a Homeland Security Trust Fund to:

Immediately implement the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission

Hire 50,000 cops, 1,000 FBI agents, and more rail police to ensure we have sufficient manpower prevent and respond to terror attacks in our communities
Require 100 percent cargo container scanning at our nation’s sea ports to prevent radiological materials and other dangerous materials from being smuggled into the country
Harden soft targets within our critical infrastructure by prioritizing vulnerabilities, setting robust security standards, and funding security upgrades
Replace deadly chemicals whenever feasible alternatives exist
Implement strict interoperability standards for our first responders and provide them with the spectrum and equipment to allow them to talk during an emergency
Spur research and development to ensure that we have the technologies to detect nuclear materials, liquid explosives, and other threats at our nation’s sea and airports and border crossings
Invest in our public health system to ensure the capacity to respond to biological, chemical, radiological attacks or pandemics such as SARS or bird flu
2. Intercept Threats Abroad Real security comes from prevention – not preemption. Threats must be defused before they reach the U.S., especially the possibility radical fundamentalists will acquire weapons of mass destruction. Senator Biden would:

Expand programs to destroy loose weapons of mass destruction and dangerous materials in the former Soviet Union and extend them to other countries

Improve detection systems to prevent materials of mass destruction from transiting the globe
Seek and enforce new international laws to intercept ships and planes suspected of carrying weapons of mass destruction
Help partner countries build the capacity to disrupt and destroy extremist networks, secure their borders and detect outbreaks of diseases
Require tougher non- proliferation policies and reform the Non Proliferation Treaty to closes the nuclear fuel cycle loophole
Give our military the tools they need to succeed by increasing military end strength by 100,000, providing more Special Operators and UAVs
Expand foreign language expertise in the government, intelligence services and armed forces
Increase focus on counter-narcotics and transnational crimes that fund extremists
Expand human intelligence, tear down bureaucratic walls that prevent information sharing
Develop a strategy for success in Iraq to avoid trading a dictator for chaos and win the war in Afghanistan so it does not become again a haven for extremists
3. Restore Partnerships And Build Effective Alliances Instead of alienating them, the U.S. must work with strong partners and build effective alliances. Taking on the radical fundamentalists alone isn’t necessary, it isn’t smart and it won’t work.

Forge new international alliances of law enforcement, intelligence, and financial officials to uproot terrorists and end their funding

Establish international rules of conduct, live by them, encourage others to do the same, but insist that the rules be enforced.
Lead other countries to a new international commitment to protect innocents and prevent acts of mass destruction. Sometimes force is necessary to do that, as it was in Bosnia, Kosovo and Afghanistan and as it is now in Darfur.
Strengthen and re-orient international institutions, including the UN, NATO and other regional organizations, to combat terror and to counter the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
Re-establish relationships of trust with allied democracies by engaging on issues of common concern, including climate change, energy security and infectious disease.
4. Advance Democracy, Bolster Failing States, Win the War of Ideas America must engage and win the war of ideas between freedom and radical fundamentalism, proving to millions of people who are politically and economically disenfranchised that we offer hope while our adversaries offer only hatred. Democracy is an antidote to extremism, but it cannot be imposed by force and cannot stop at elections. We also must build democratic institutions and bolster failing states, which can become havens for terror. Sen. Biden would:

Build the institutions of democracy: political parties, effective government, independent media and judicial systems, secular education, labor unions and non-governmental organizations
Bolster failing states by funding education programs to compete with the radical madrassas, building schools and training teachers, opening closed economies, empowering women, relieving more debt
Establish government and civilian rosters and a reserve corps of law enforcement personnel, technical experts and administrators to help provide security, training and expertise to governments that are struggling to combat terrorism or consolidate democracy
Empower moderate governments and groups to fill power vacuums, such as Abu Mazen (against Hamas) and the Lebanese government (instead of Hezbollah)
Reinvigorate public diplomacy to explain our policies by increasing exchange programs, expanding international broadcasting, and recruiting more diplomats who speak languages of strategic importance.
Use preemptive diplomacy to engage adversaries like Iran and North Korea and make clear what these countries can achieve by acting responsibly – and what they risk if they do not. Going the extra diplomatic mile will make it more likely that allies will stand with us for tougher action if diplomacy fails.
America’s greatest strength is its ideas and ideals – our voice must be heard, not silenced.
Restore America’s moral authority by speaking and acting consistently against regimes that abuse human rights and ensuring that our government’s conduct is beyond reproach.
Forge an alliance of democracies to work together to advance freedom.
* * *

We live in a period where the dominant concern is the possibility the world’s most extreme groups will get their hands on its most lethal weapons. By calling on the totality of America’s strength, this threat does not need to stay with us forever – any more than communism or fascism did. If we are smart as well as strong, Americans will read about this period as a chapter in the history of this country, not the final chapter.


Biden-Gelb Plan Emerges as Leading Option for Moving Forward in Iraq
The Biden-Gelb Five-Point Plan for Iraq:
U.S. Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-DE) and Council on Foreign Relations President Emeritus Leslie H. Gelb first laid out a detailed five-point plan for Iraq on May 1, 2006.
1) Maintain a unified Iraq by decentralizing it and giving Kurds, Shiites and Sunnis breathing room in their own regions. The Iraqi constitution already provides for federalism. The central government would be responsible for common interests, like border security and the distribution of oil revenues.


2) Secure support from the Sunnis - who have no oil -- by guaranteeing them a proportionate share (about 20 percent) of oil revenues, allowing former Baathists to go back to work and re-integrating those with no blood on their hands.


3) Increase economic aid, asking oil-rich Arab Gulf states to fund it, tie assistance to the protection of minority rights and create a jobs program to deny the militia new recruits.


4) Convene a regional conference to enlist the support of Iraq's neighbors and create a Contact Group of the major powers to enforce their commitments.


5) Ask our military for a plan to responsibly withdraw most U.S. forces from Iraq by 2008 - enough time for the political settlement to take hold - while refocusing the mission of a small residual force on counter-terrorism and training Iraqis.



THE NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE ESTIMATE (NIE) ON THE CENTRAL ELEMENT OF THE BIDEN-GELB PLAN



The National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iraq - a consensus report of all U.S. intelligence agencies - makes clear the need for a political settlement based on federalism, as called for in the Biden-Gelb plan.


The NIE identifies developments that could "reverse the negative trends driving Iraq's current trajectory," including: "broader Sunni acceptance of the current political structure and federalism" and "significant concessions by Shia and Kurds to create space for Sunni acceptance of federalism." These elements are central to the Biden-Gelb plan for Iraq.


The NIE also warns of the danger of Iraq's civil war becoming a regional war, which underscores the urgent need for a regional diplomatic strategy that involves Iraq's neighbors in supporting a political settlement or containing the violence should reconciliation fail, as called for in the Biden-Gelb plan. [U.S. National Intelligence Estimate, 2/2/07]

Joe Biden is the only candidate that has the stones to actually say what his plan for the situation in Iraq is. He has announce he is running for President in 2008.

On the eve of the attack on America, Joe Biden made a very visionary speech. Here is an excerpt from that speech:


Sure, we'll do all we can to defend ourselves against any threat, nobody denies that, but even the Joint Chiefs says that a strategic nuclear attack is less likely than a regional conflict, a major theater war, terrorist attacks at home or abroad, or any number of other real issues. We'll have diverted all that money to address the least likely threat, while the real threat comes to this country in the hold of a ship, the belly of a plane, or smuggled into a city in the middle of the night in a vial in a backpack. And I ask you, you want to do us damage, are you more likely to send a missile you're not sure can reach us with a biological or chemical weapon because you don't have the throw weight to put a nuclear weapon on it and no one's anticipating that in the near term, with a return address saying, "It came from us, here's where we are?" Or are you more likely to put somebody with a backpack crossing the border from Vancouver down to Seattle, or coming up the New York Harbor with a rusty old ship with an atom bomb sitting in the hull? Which are you more likely to do? And what defense do we have against those other things?