Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Biden Blasts Hillary, Obama, Edwards
Sen. Joe Biden, who is announcing his candidacy for president this week, has gone on the attack – not against President Bush and the Republicans, but against his rivals for the Democratic nomination.
In an interview with Jason Horowitz of the New York Observer, the Delaware Democrat didn’t mince words when discussing former Sen. John Edwards, who is also seeking the nomination.
"I don’t think John Edwards knows what the heck he is talking about,” Biden said, referring to Edwards’ call for the immediate withdrawal of about 40,000 U.S. troops from Iraq.
"John Edwards wants you and all the Democrats to think, ‘I want us out of there.’ But when you come back and you say . . . ‘what about the chaos that will ensue? Do we have any interest, John, left in the region? . . . How do you protect those interests, John, if you are completely withdrawn?’”
Biden called Sen. Hillary Clinton’s proposal to cap U.S. troops and threaten Iraqi leaders with cuts in funding "a very bad idea.”
Biden told the Observer: "The part of Hillary’s proposal, the part that really baffles me is, ‘We’re going to teach the Iraqis a lesson.’ We’re not going to equip them? O.K. Cap our troops and withdraw support from the Iraqis? That’s a real good idea."
The result, said Biden, would be "nothing but disaster.” Biden has himself opposed President Bush’s plan for a troop surge in Iraq.
He acknowledged that another Democratic rival, Sen. Barack Obama, is "articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.” But he didn’t stop there, saying he doubted that American voters would elect a "one-term, a guy who has served for four years in the Senate. I don’t recall hearing a word from Barack about a plan or a tactic.”
Obama, a first-term-senator, while calling him "the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy."
Biden told reporters that he'd used the word "clean" to describe Obama as "fresh and new," and that the choice of words was not meant to disparage other black candidates who'd run for president in the past, such as civil rights leaders Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton.
Obama, Biden said, "is probably the most exciting candidate the Democratic or Republican parties have produced since I've been around. He's fresh, new, smart, insightful. Lightning in a jar."
An Obama spokesman responded that he "has articulated clear principles [on] how to address the tragic mistakes President Bush has made” in Iraq. The press offices for Clinton and Edwards had no comment.
Biden favors a plan – derided by many in the foreign policy establishment – to split Iraq into autonomous Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish regions.
Sen. Joe Biden, who is announcing his candidacy for president this week, has gone on the attack – not against President Bush and the Republicans, but against his rivals for the Democratic nomination.
In an interview with Jason Horowitz of the New York Observer, the Delaware Democrat didn’t mince words when discussing former Sen. John Edwards, who is also seeking the nomination.
"I don’t think John Edwards knows what the heck he is talking about,” Biden said, referring to Edwards’ call for the immediate withdrawal of about 40,000 U.S. troops from Iraq.
"John Edwards wants you and all the Democrats to think, ‘I want us out of there.’ But when you come back and you say . . . ‘what about the chaos that will ensue? Do we have any interest, John, left in the region? . . . How do you protect those interests, John, if you are completely withdrawn?’”
Biden called Sen. Hillary Clinton’s proposal to cap U.S. troops and threaten Iraqi leaders with cuts in funding "a very bad idea.”
Biden told the Observer: "The part of Hillary’s proposal, the part that really baffles me is, ‘We’re going to teach the Iraqis a lesson.’ We’re not going to equip them? O.K. Cap our troops and withdraw support from the Iraqis? That’s a real good idea."
The result, said Biden, would be "nothing but disaster.” Biden has himself opposed President Bush’s plan for a troop surge in Iraq.
He acknowledged that another Democratic rival, Sen. Barack Obama, is "articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.” But he didn’t stop there, saying he doubted that American voters would elect a "one-term, a guy who has served for four years in the Senate. I don’t recall hearing a word from Barack about a plan or a tactic.”
Obama, a first-term-senator, while calling him "the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy."
Biden told reporters that he'd used the word "clean" to describe Obama as "fresh and new," and that the choice of words was not meant to disparage other black candidates who'd run for president in the past, such as civil rights leaders Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton.
Obama, Biden said, "is probably the most exciting candidate the Democratic or Republican parties have produced since I've been around. He's fresh, new, smart, insightful. Lightning in a jar."
An Obama spokesman responded that he "has articulated clear principles [on] how to address the tragic mistakes President Bush has made” in Iraq. The press offices for Clinton and Edwards had no comment.
Biden favors a plan – derided by many in the foreign policy establishment – to split Iraq into autonomous Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish regions.
