There was another thread on here on how Republicans are taking credit for the stimulus while opposing it on the other end. Well although not a direct comparison Joe Biden is trying to take credit for Iraq after he opposed it on every front in the senate. Opposed the troops surge he opposed expanding the war. Well if the Bush administration didnt do that we wouldn't even have close to a stable Iraq that we can exit. I do not agree we should have went to war with Iraq but I think if you are going to claim Iraq was a success most of that was done back in 05-07 in Bush's administration. I do applaud Obama for finally exiting the war though. But some of Biden's quotes are a bit of a stretch and I can see how that it might be outrageous for the people on the ground or all the people that worked for the prior administration. Again I do not want to turn this into a Republican vs Democrat thing. All along I have been saying we have some really bad characters in congress who we need to vote out. I just wanted to show how politicians are politicians. It doesn't matter if you are a Republican or Democrat you play political games. ------------- Republicans Object to Biden Taking Credit for Success in Iraq By Mike Emanuel - FOXNews.com Republicans say Vice President Biden can't claim success for Iraq after opposing the troop surge. * print * email * share * Check recommend (15) Decrease Font A A A Increase Font AP Jan. 21: President Obama and Vice President Biden acknowledge mayors before a White House address. As senators, Barack Obama and Joe Biden both opposed the troop surge in Iraq -- and Biden even wanted to divide the country into three sections. But as vice president, Biden is taking credit for success in Iraq. "I am very optimistic about Iraq," he said. "I mean, this could be one of the great achievements of this administration." But Republican Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, a member of the Armed Services Committee, said you cannot oppose the surge and then claim it for your legacy. "When Joe Biden was in the Senate and Obama was in the Senate, they authored and were the chief architect of the resolution opposing the surge," he said. The vice president also took credit for the troop drawdown. "You're going to see 90,000 American troops come marching home by the end of the summer," he said. "You're going to see a stable government in Iraq that is actually moving toward a representative government." But the drawdown was negotiated in the Status of Forces Agreement before the Obama administration took office. "The reduction in U.S. forces that is under way right now is in fact important and it's largely the continuation of the policy that President Bush had set in place when he negotiated the drawdown schedule with Prime Minister Maliki at the end of 2008," Michael O'Hanlon of the Brookings Institution told Fox News. In fact, the agreement called for having U.S. troops out of Iraqi cities by June 30, 2009, and all U.S. combat troops out by the end of 2011. "The timetable for withdrawing those troops had been worked on for a long time, way preceding this administration coming into power, and that timetable really centered on success in Iraq," said Col. Bill Cowan, a Fox News contributor. "That success starting really after the surge that was implemented by the previous administration." At the White House, the day after the vice president's remarks, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs was asked how the administration could take credit for Iraq. "Well, putting what was broken back together and getting our troops home, which we intend to do in August of this year," he said, adding that Obama helped provide critical "political pressure" on Iraq policy before taking office. Experts, noting a peaceful transfer of power is a key step for a young democracy, suggest another major test for Iraq is coming up March 7, when provincial elections are scheduled to be held. ---------------------- http://www.foxnews.com/politics/201...n-taking-credit-success-iraq/?test=latestnews
When you inherit a mess from a previous administration like Iraq and turn it into something positive I believe they have the right to claim success.
Republicans should be grateful that somebody is willing to claim the greatest policy blunder in American history.
Claiming victory is stupid. Let the people decide. I decided that there is no such thing as "victory in Iraq" and looooong time ago, even if we get out without any further deaths and the government there is stable.
The war in Iraq was effectively won under President Bush. President Obama can still lose the war, but he cannot win it. Joe Biden is acting like a buffoon by saying this kind of stuff, which of course is just business as usual for him. The vast majority of Americans will briefly observe Biden's buffoonery here and note it as the self-serving, revisionist political opportunism that it is, and then go back to their regular activities. This is obviously so far over the top that it is not believable at all. There is no real chance for the left to effectively spin this the way they want it to go. Next.
I agree. I don't recall Bush taking responsibility for anything substantial during his terms. What did he accomplish? Stronger American division.
Define victory? I want to know which American foreign policy directive was achieved, if any at all were... Promoting stability in the region? Finding and disarming WMDs? Not letting Osama bin Laden and most of the Al Qaeda leadership escape Afghanistan since America was fighting "terrorist groups" Saddam was not affiliated with? Fighting a "War on terror" despite the fact that it is blindingly obvious one of Al Qaeda's directives is to pull American troops into many Middle East conflict zones as possible? Or is installing a farce of a democracy with rampant allegations of corruption and inaction merely enough? I guess the oil helps too. If you can define win as "semi-stabilizing a mess that one helped f*** up in the first place" then I suppose your views on victory are just incompatible with those of the rest of the world.
Bush and cheney had 2 terms to fix what they started in iraq and afghanistan. Could not do it, and sadly I believe it wont get done either with obama's term as well.
Considering that the Obama Admin has been handling things for the more than a year now they should be able to some of the credit, or blame, for Iraq. While you can certainly say that things started to turn around in the last year of the prior Admin. Iraq is now Obama's issue. This is different than the Republican Representatives and Senators claiming credit for the stimulus when they voted against it.
When is Obama going to take credit for the current market and quit blaming the previous administration?
Was GW Bush taking credit for the crash in 2008? Actually Obama has been taking some credit when he has pointed to things like the improvement in the stock market since 2008. That said though if you are going to blame Obama for not taking us out of recession I think with more than a year in office it is valid to do so. At the sametime though I don't think you can blame the current Admin for causing the recession.
I think people are making more of this quote than is warranted, which is to be expected in politics. I agree with critics that the situation in Iraq got significantly better before Obama was sworn in. But, Biden's statement is forward-looking. There is more work to be done in Iraq besides the cessation of violence and the withdrawal of American troops. If the US does help Iraq to become a stable democracy again, that will be an achievement to be proud of. I think Biden is dreamcasting on that potential, not merely resting on the laurels of the troop drawdown. I'd also say people have built an easy mental shortcut to give all the credit for the improvement in Iraq to the troop surge. Maybe we like to be able to take any credit available. I think the surge was likely helpful, but a lot more credit needs to be given to the Iraqis who decided to work with the Americans to stabilize the country. Without that, the troop surge would have been just another blunder.
Biden with honest, inspirational statements for our fine troops dedicating their lives for our freedom.
