Senator Biden must be confused
My guess is that Senator Joe Biden really has no clue what federalism actually is or he is just confused.
In an article that he wrote for the Boston News yesterday- Senator Biden talks of his plan to make Iraq into a federalist government.
There are two other ways to govern Iraq from the center: A foreign occupation that the United States cannot sustain or the return of a strongman, who is not on the horizon.
That leaves federalism -- an idea a majority of Iraqis have already endorsed in their constitution.
Federalism is defined as:
A form of political organization in which governmental power is divided between a central government and territorial subdivisions--in the United States, among the national, state, and local governments.
What I do not understand is why Senator Biden does not recognize that the current government that is being built in Iraq is a federalist government.
Currently Iraq has a central government (parliament, etc…), provincial government (i.e. Anbar province) and local governments (mayors, etc…).
Certainly, this meets the definition for a federalist government.
So, what is Senator Biden’s problem?
Senator Biden states:
The plan would decentralize Iraq and give Kurds, Shi'ites, and Sunnis control over their daily lives; bring the Sunnis in by guaranteeing them a fair share of the oil; enlist the support of Iraq's neighbors and the world's major powers to promote the plan with the Iraqis; and withdraw US combat forces by 2008.
>Snip< Since the onset of sectarian war, there is no trust within the central government, no trust of the government by the people and no capacity by the government to deliver services and security. There is no evidence that we can build that trust and capacity any time soon.
Senator Biden believes that the government of Iraq should be de-centralized. However, the very definition of a federalist government includes a central government.
Without a central government- Iraq cannot become a federalist nation.
So I am not exactly why Senator Biden is just now embracing a federalist government in Iraq. This is precisely what the President and the current Iraqi government have been working towards from the very beginning.
Perhaps Senator Biden is embracing creating three separate nations of Kurds, Shiite and Sunni.
This would entail creating three separate federalist government, instead of just creating one Iraq.
It does not matter which direction Senator Biden would like to go. If he wants Iraq to have a federalist government, then it needs to have a central government.
Senator Biden also speaks about “bring the Sunnis in by guaranteeing them a fair share of the oil”.
I am guessing that Senator Biden recently missed this huge announcement:
Iraqis Reach an Accord on Oil Revenues
It is staggering to me why someone like Senator Biden is flipping out over how to move forward in Iraq. It appears that everything that Senator Biden is requesting out of Iraqis is already being done.
It appears that Senator Biden has no idea what is actually going on in Iraq or he has no idea what a federalist government actually is.
Either way, we are in a world of trouble with this Senator. Yikes! The Democrats have put this guy in charge of the Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee.
You would think that the Senator in charge of the Foreign Relations Committee should at least be required to recognize a federalist government when he sees one. After all, Senator Biden was born and raised in a one.
Senator Biden is using all of this mubo jumbo to attempt to revoke the Iraqi War Resolution passed in 2002 and remove the President’s war powers. This, of course, would be unconstitutional for the senators to do. You would think that the senators would understand this also. Apparently not.
In an article that he wrote for the Boston News yesterday- Senator Biden talks of his plan to make Iraq into a federalist government.
There are two other ways to govern Iraq from the center: A foreign occupation that the United States cannot sustain or the return of a strongman, who is not on the horizon.
That leaves federalism -- an idea a majority of Iraqis have already endorsed in their constitution.
Federalism is defined as:
A form of political organization in which governmental power is divided between a central government and territorial subdivisions--in the United States, among the national, state, and local governments.
What I do not understand is why Senator Biden does not recognize that the current government that is being built in Iraq is a federalist government.
Currently Iraq has a central government (parliament, etc…), provincial government (i.e. Anbar province) and local governments (mayors, etc…).
Certainly, this meets the definition for a federalist government.
So, what is Senator Biden’s problem?
Senator Biden states:
The plan would decentralize Iraq and give Kurds, Shi'ites, and Sunnis control over their daily lives; bring the Sunnis in by guaranteeing them a fair share of the oil; enlist the support of Iraq's neighbors and the world's major powers to promote the plan with the Iraqis; and withdraw US combat forces by 2008.
>Snip< Since the onset of sectarian war, there is no trust within the central government, no trust of the government by the people and no capacity by the government to deliver services and security. There is no evidence that we can build that trust and capacity any time soon.
Senator Biden believes that the government of Iraq should be de-centralized. However, the very definition of a federalist government includes a central government.
Without a central government- Iraq cannot become a federalist nation.
So I am not exactly why Senator Biden is just now embracing a federalist government in Iraq. This is precisely what the President and the current Iraqi government have been working towards from the very beginning.
Perhaps Senator Biden is embracing creating three separate nations of Kurds, Shiite and Sunni.
This would entail creating three separate federalist government, instead of just creating one Iraq.
It does not matter which direction Senator Biden would like to go. If he wants Iraq to have a federalist government, then it needs to have a central government.
Senator Biden also speaks about “bring the Sunnis in by guaranteeing them a fair share of the oil”.
I am guessing that Senator Biden recently missed this huge announcement:
Iraqis Reach an Accord on Oil Revenues
It is staggering to me why someone like Senator Biden is flipping out over how to move forward in Iraq. It appears that everything that Senator Biden is requesting out of Iraqis is already being done.
It appears that Senator Biden has no idea what is actually going on in Iraq or he has no idea what a federalist government actually is.
Either way, we are in a world of trouble with this Senator. Yikes! The Democrats have put this guy in charge of the Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee.
You would think that the Senator in charge of the Foreign Relations Committee should at least be required to recognize a federalist government when he sees one. After all, Senator Biden was born and raised in a one.
Senator Biden is using all of this mubo jumbo to attempt to revoke the Iraqi War Resolution passed in 2002 and remove the President’s war powers. This, of course, would be unconstitutional for the senators to do. You would think that the senators would understand this also. Apparently not.
posted by K. Carpenter @ 1:59 PM
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