Quotable: U.S. troops won’t be “apartheid cops” in Iraq
I just came back from a talk at the Brookings Institution by Joseph Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a candidate for the Democratic nomination in 2008. Biden said a lot of interesting things in his talk, but perhaps the most colorful wasn’t in the prepared remarks (pdf). During the questions period, ...
I just came back from a talk at the Brookings Institution by Joseph Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a candidate for the Democratic nomination in 2008.
I just came back from a talk at the Brookings Institution by Joseph Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a candidate for the Democratic nomination in 2008.
Biden said a lot of interesting things in his talk, but perhaps the most colorful wasn’t in the prepared remarks (pdf). During the questions period, he said that U.S. combat forces must leave Iraq by 2008 in order to make it clear to the Iraqis that we won’t stick around as “apartheid cops.”
Also newsworthy: Biden announced that he’s working on legislation to repeal the 2002 Congressional authorization that allowed President Bush to send troops, calling it “no longer relevant to the situation in Iraq.” He said it should be replaced with “a much narrower mission statement.”
Biden’s overall message was that the United States needs to “get out of Iraq with our interests intact,” and that his plan was the best way to do that. Taking a page from President Bush’s playbook, he ended his talk with a challenge to potential critics: “What is your alternative?”
Blake Hounshell is a former managing editor of Foreign Policy.
More from Foreign Policy

America Is a Heartbeat Away From a War It Could Lose
Global war is neither a theoretical contingency nor the fever dream of hawks and militarists.

The West’s Incoherent Critique of Israel’s Gaza Strategy
The reality of fighting Hamas in Gaza makes this war terrible one way or another.

Biden Owns the Israel-Palestine Conflict Now
In tying Washington to Israel’s war in Gaza, the U.S. president now shares responsibility for the broader conflict’s fate.

Taiwan’s Room to Maneuver Shrinks as Biden and Xi Meet
As the latest crisis in the straits wraps up, Taipei is on the back foot.